It's rare that a campaign ad just stops me in my tracks and sends my jaw to the floor, but ... yeah. Just watch:
Narrator: The choice for governor couldn't be more clear. John Bel Edwards, who answered our country's call and served as a ranger in the 82nd Airborne Division. Or David Vitter, who answered a prostitute's call minutes after he skipped a vote honoring 28 soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our freedom. David Vitter chose prostitutes over patriots. Now, the choice is yours.
How do you respond to that if you're Vitter? What do you even say? That Edwards is a desperate Obama clone who will destroy Louisiana? Republicans were going to say that anyway. In fact,
they already have.
The broader question is whether Edwards' decision to go nuclear over Vitter's prostitution scandal—in a way Vitter's electoral foes never have before—signals anything about the state of play in this race. Polls have shown Edwards with improbably large leads of 8 to 20 points, but this isn't ordinarily the kind of ad you run if you feel you're comfortably ahead. Then again, there's been nothing ordinary about this race, and it's hard to envision Edwards suffering any blowback for simply telling the truth about his opponent. So maybe you just whale on Vitter because you simply don't know if the polls are right, or you think they are but could quickly turn against you if you don't keep your boot on Vitter's neck.
Whatever the case, the reaction to this ad should be fascinating.