This week, Rep. Allen Boyd (D) released his second TV ad of the cycle touting his work for fiscally responsible health care reform. But the Blue Dog Democrat is also taking flak from his primary challenger and national Republicans about his early cycle ad blitz.

Both sides said this week that Boyd’s decision to dip into his $1.7 million war chest so early in the cycle is a sign that he’s already running scared.

“After voting for [President Barack] Obama’s massive energy tax and failed stimulus, Allen Boyd is in the fight of his political life,— National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Andy Sere said Wednesday.

Boyd voted against the House version of the health care bill, and his ads touts the need for a reform that won’t lead to higher costs and premiums for patients and business owners.

National Republicans have yet to unite behind one of several GOP challengers who have filed for the race, and Boyd’s biggest threat right now appears to be in the Democratic primary where state Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson is challenging Boyd from the left.

In a fundraising appeal Monday, Lawson said Boyd is trying to “reinvent— himself ahead of the August 2010 primary.

“In his new TV ad, Boyd adopts the same attacks used by [former Alaska Gov.]Sarah Palin and D.C. Republicans in attacking health care reform, declaring that the bill will ‘mortgage our future’ and ‘raise premiums.’ This is outrageous,— Lawson wrote. “I am running for Congress because Florida’s 2nd Congressional District doesn’t need a Blue Dog — we need a Democrat.—