Leading Off:
• MI-Sen: The DSCC hits Republican Terri Lynn Land, and it's a pretty great ad. The spot has a clip of Land's now-legendary "Really?" ad, with Land declaring at the end, "Because as a woman, I may know more about women than [Democratic rival] Gary Peters." The DSCC then features several women declaring no, Land's agenda actually hurts women. And of course, the clip keeps coming back.
If you haven't watched Land's original "Really" ad, you should absolutely check it out: It's one of those so-bad-it's-good ads, though it's not good in any way that actually helps Land. How bad is it? Republican pollster Frank Luntz went on Fox and called it "the worst ad of the political process," and concluded with, "that ad should be off the air." I'll bet the DSCC wishes they could just buy the rights to the Land ad and air it unedited, but their spot is pretty fun too.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: Put Alaska First spends another $232,000 against Republican Dan Sullivan.
• ME-Sen: Despite a new internal poll showing her losing 57-33, Democracy for America has decided to spend $300,000 to air two new TV ads on behalf of Democrat Shenna Bellows. Both are very similar minute-long spots featuring a variety of actors decrying Republican Sen. Susan Collins as a politician who only cares about millionaires and billionaires. (David Nir)
• NC-Sen: The DSCC once again hits Republican Thom Tillis on education cuts.
• NH-Sen: Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen portrays Republican Scott Brown as deep in the pocket of big oil. We also have a size of the buy for a recent anti-Shaheen spot from Independent Leadership for New Hampshire: $136,000.
• NRSC: A bunch of new spots hitting Democrats in several key Senate races. The group is hitting Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado; Michelle Nunn in Georgia (here and here); Rep. Bruce Braley in Iowa; and Rep. Gary Peters in Michigan.
The only notable one is the Iowa ad, centered entirely around Braley's "farmer from Iowa" gaffe. The spot features a man who identifies himself as a fifth-generation Iowa and a farmer saying that Braley was insulting, before attacking Braley for being part of the Washington crowd. This is nothing at all new, but it's still notable how much the Republicans are betting that this gaffe is Braley's Macaca moment.
Gubernatorial:
• AR-Gov: Democrat Mike Ross argues that Republican attacks on him for alleged corruption are lies, while Republican foe Asa Hutchinson is the shady one.
The ad probably would have been more effective if they didn't repeat the Republican charges at the beginning: When the narrator says "There was never a Justice Department investigation," it does help keep the negative story out there when trying to counter it. As Brad Phillips of Mr. Media Training put it in a very good article about these types of "quotes of denial," "The problem is that the defensive-sounding negative word or phrase tends to linger longer in the public memory than the word 'not.'" There are much better ways to counter a negative story than repeating it and potentially allowing it to recirculate.
• AZ-Gov: Democrat Fred DuVal announced last week that the RGA was about to target him for $500,000, and he was right. The spot blames DuVal for allowing college tuition costs to increase.
• FL-Gov: NextGen Climate once again ties Republican Gov. Rick Scott to an unsavory group, this time attacking him for his ties to the sugar industry.
House:
• AZ-02: Democratic Rep. Ron Barber calls for securing the border.
• CA-07: Democratic Rep. Ami Bera's new positive spot is virtually identical to a previous ad he ran this cycle.
• FL-02: Democrat Gwen Graham calls for changing Obamacare so it works, pushing back on Republican attacks on her support for the program.
• FL-18: Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy has a cute ad where he declares he's never stopped working since he's been elected.
• IL-13: Democrat Ann Callis uses her first spot to do what pretty much any non-incumbent does, and runs against Washington.
• NH-01 Republican former Rep. Frank Guinta is out with his first spot, making the insanely controversial pledge to "put people first."
• MA-Gov: Commonwealth Future PAC, an RGA front group, attacks likely Democratic nominee Martha Coakley for wanting to raise the gas tax when she doesn't even know what the current level is.
• NH-02: Republican state Rep. Marilinda Garcia calls for a new generation of conservative leaders. She's only spending $30,000 on it, but she's getting some help. The Club For Growth recently aired a spot attacking primary rival former state Sen. Gary Lambert, and it's for a considerable $482,000. Lambert does not have the resources to respond to this kind of buy, and no outside groups are rushing in to help him. The primary is Sept. 9.
Meanwhile freshman Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster goes positive. The spot features a veteran describing how the congresswoman helped her get her healthcare benefits.
• WV-03: Republican Evan Jenkins portrays Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall as a guy who's spend decades in Washington and done nothing but get a parking garage named after himself.
• DCCC: The DCCC spends between $100,000 to $233,000 per race attacking five Republicans; FL-02 Rep. Steve Southerland; GA-12 challenger Rick Allen; NJ-03 candidate Tom MacArthur; NY-11 Rep. Michael Grimm; and WV-03 challenger Evan Jenkins.
