With Dole ahead in New Hampshire, Bush ran television commercials portraying the senator as a tax raiser; he rebounded to win the state's primary.

Entitled "Cheesy" by Mr. Gulotta's campaign, the ad depicts Mr. Yevoli as a tax raiser and big spender of tax money for questionable purposes and his own enrichment.

All over the country Mary Lou, Buck, Elsie and Bill are listening to enraged people issue head-chopper threats against tax raisers.

In two full-color advertisements, Mr. Gormley portrays himself as a tax-cutting conservative and Mr. Franks as an untrustworthy, big-spending tax raiser in fiscal conservative's clothing.

Without mentioning them by name, Mr. DiFrancesco dismissed his rivals as "foolish and irresponsible tax raisers," while taking credit himself for 52 tax cuts over the last decade.

Mr. Lomax, a former English professor and the administrator of a chain of funeral homes, said Tuesday night that his campaign had been hurt by his unfair image as a tax raiser.

But both sides are eager to avoid being tarred as tax raisers, and Democrats remain wary on this third day of the White House's budget offensive.

Mr. Bloomberg is many things to many people - school reformer, cigarette hater, tax raiser - but the crime fighter reputation still appears to belong to his predecessor.

They work hard to avoid getting tagged as tax raisers, and since 2004 they have tried to open their doors to opponents of abortion as well.

Mr. Pataki's strategists said they thought their portrayal of Mr. McCall as an incurable tax raiser would hurt him chiefly among white suburbanites.