Finally, after months of his name recognition languaging in the 20s, Hoeffel has started running his first TV spot. This is the first paid media Hoeffel has run all campaign, and he intends to stay on the air through November 2.
http://www.hoeffelforsenate.com/ads.cfm
Right now, he's 15 to 20 points behind Specter. Look for the gap to close reasonably fast as people get to know Hoeffel. As of the end of the second quarter in July, Specter had $3.3 million on hand (after having spent roughly $16 million to edge out primary challenger Pat Toomey) to Hoeffel's $1.1 million. Since then, Hoeffel has had fundraisers with Bill Clinton and Al Gore as well as kicked off his "Million For Hoeffel" campaign. If I had to guess, I'd say he probably has close to $2 million on hand right now and Specter has probably close to $5 million.
In general, nobody likes Specter. He was booed at a recent Republican party event with Bush. He has a serious right wing 3rd party challenger in Jim Clymer. His unfavorable ratings have gotten well into the mid 50s this year. The problem has been that nobody knows Hoeffel; in fact, the number of supporters he has, roughly 35%, has consistently been higher than his name recogntion. With our help to get his name out against Specter, who will doubtless spend over $10 million, Hoeffel can really make a race here.