MIAMI -- At an appearance in South Florida on Monday, state Attorney General Bill McCollum strongly defended his publicly financed television campaign that critics charge are personal campaign ads.

McCollum appears in and narrates the 30-second spots that have been airing for six weeks in Florida’s major television markets. He promotes the state’s cyber-crime unit and Web site.

"It's very effective for the purpose it was made for, which was to get us the attention of the people of this state," McCollum said at an anti-gang luncheon in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. "I couldn't imagine a more efficient, cost-effective advertisement public service ad than the one we ran."

The Florida Democratic Party disagrees and made a public records request for the ad campaign expenditures.

McCollum hired and paid, without going out to bid, the same out-of-state political consultant who produced his 2006 campaign spots.

Records show the crew charged $755 in travel costs, hired two directors, a production manager and a camera crew for $7,300, paid $3,300 for 10 shots of stock footage and $550 for McCollum’s makeup.

"If the intent was to protect children, he wouldn't need to spend $550 of our dollars on makeup," said state party spokesman Eric Jotkoff. "It's disappointing he'd rather promote himself and his political career than Florida's children."

The total cost of the ad campaign comes close to $1.5 million, paid for from a Legal Affairs Revolving Trust Fund, settlement money from a lawsuit over communications fraud. The same pot of public money could have been used to grow the Cyber Crime unit, which the attorney general previously expressed support for.

"The ads are designed to awake parents (to the issues of cyber crime)," said McCollum. "They have done a good job with that."

Asked whether he plans to run for retiring Sen. Mel Martinez's seat or for Florida governor in 2010, McCollum said he is attorney general and "not a candidate for anything."