It's usually a fair sign that neither side is certain of victory when both candidates in a primary start going negative on one another. Last week, with polls showing the race is close, Rep. Donna Edwards launched her first ad of Maryland's Democratic Senate primary, in which she hit Rep. Chris Van Hollen for expressing a willingness to "consider" cuts to Social Security.
Now Van Hollen is firing back with his own spot, where a pair of narrators accuse Edwards of leveling "false" attacks on him, then say she was "ranked one of the least effective members of Congress—dead last among all Democrats." They go on to cite a study from the Lugar Center claiming Edwards was the least willing to find common ground, then reference a Washington Post editorial that described Edwards as "allergic to compromise, just like tea party Republicans."
Suggesting that your opponent is not bipartisan enough, though, hardly seems like a winning message in a Democratic primary. Maryland Democrats are really supposed to be upset that Edwards hasn't shown an interest in working with people like Ted Cruz? The fine print of the ad also reveals a telling detail: A footnote that appears onscreen with the Lugar study says the report was "Access 3/7/16," meaning this bit of oppo has been kicking around Van Hollen headquarters for more than a month. If this is really the best Van Hollen has on Edwards, then it doesn't seem like much.
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