In Minnesota, the RNCC and other Republican groups

[MineralMan]

are running constant, ugly attack ads in House districts where a credible Democratic candidate is challenging a Republican incumbent.

The ads are notable for their exaggerations and outright lies. The Democratic candidates are simply pointing out the attack ads and carrying on with their positive campaigns.

Even the local media has noticed, and are fact-checking the negative ads.

The smell of desperation is definitely in the air in this state. Personally, I think the ads are going to backfire spectacularly. But, we'll know for sure in just over a month.

GOTV!

[SharonClark]

1. Same in Iowa.

The gop ads are snearing sounding, nasty looking, and full of lies.

[MineralMan]

4. I'm not surprised, somehow.

[spanone]

2. in Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn's ads are lie after lie after lie.

she is a disgrace.

[MineralMan]

5. It seems to be how they're conducting campaigns.

[spanone]

8. Their 'president' is the king of lies....and it's worked to his advantage...so they follow suit.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Same in Missouri, w/ Josh Hawley's inaccurate attack ads on Claire McCaskill, my senator. ...

Hawley's ads have been called out for being based on inaccurate information and just plain wrong. Of course the ads are still running.

Some of the ads are Koch Brothers originated (so called Americans for Prosperity (a joke)).

Claire still has a nice lead, 4%-5%, and Hawley now has a somewhat unsavory reputation.

[MineralMan]

6. Good. I hope these attack ads are backfiring.

They should be.

[dalton99a]

7. Make it happen - GOTV!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. I assume you're talking about Erik Paulsen's awful ads

lying about Dean Phillips. They aren't even any good stylistically - the usual menacing tones, dark colors and snarky voiceovers. I don't know how many times I've seen them (I think there are two different ones that say basically the same thing - claiming Phillips didn't offer his employees health insurance, even though he did). Lame, but they inspired me to send a few bucks to Phillips' campaign even though I'm not in his district.

Phillips' Bigfoot ad, on the other hand, is brilliant. Featuring a Bigfoot who wonders whether Paulsen really exists, it riffs on Paulsen's failure to hold any town halls in seven years or respond in any meaningful way to his constituency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=6iU_8wSvSW4

[MineralMan]

11. Those and the anti-Angie Craig ads in Jason Lewis's district.

Ugly crap, all of it. And yes, all of them have that dark, menacing look. Frankly the ads look like they were designed by people from the 50s and 60s. Maybe that's deliberate and they're targeting older voters. I don't know.

Angie Craig, however, co-opted them on the lesbian issue. All of her ads talk about her wife and family. she beat the GOOPers to the punch on that one.

Even though I work in marketing, I have always stayed away from political campaign work. It can be really, really hard to get paid, and there's not a lot of flexibility in what they want. So, I simply don't do it.

[Honeycombe8]

10. Negative ads are effective, so don't get happy about the "positive" ones by the Democrats.

I personally respond to positive ads. But that's me. I prefer the Democrats, or any politician, to stay positive about the future and their qualifications.

But that's me. Stats show that negative ads work.

"When they go low, we go high" doesn't work in all areas. Just the opposite. It can be seen as weak in some areas; if they don't respond to the negative accusations, the public takes them as true. John Kerry made this mistake.

It depends on the area. Here in Louisiana, being nice won't get you very far. You have to show you're tough, tough talking, and will do anything to get what the state needs and wants. It's a shame, but that's what it looks like to me.

[MineralMan]

12. Yes, they can be. In Minnesota, though, not so much.

I don't think the ads I'm talking about are going to get the job done, frankly.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. True to some extent, but it can be overdone. The GOP here is overdoing it

and their ads have become stale and boring with six weeks still to go. Phillips did respond directly in one of his ads to the false claim that he didn't provide health insurance - and called it exactly what it was - so he's not just being clever and nice.

Some years ago goofball pro wrestler Jesse Ventura managed to get himself elected governor using very clever, positive advertising. He probably shouldn't have won, and probably wouldn't have if the major party candidates hadn't been so dull, but his ad guy was brilliant and the ads got a lot of attention. Dean Phillips' Bigfoot ad is getting national attention and it's likely to do him a lot of good.

[Honeycombe8]

14. Very interesting and informative. Thanks! nt