DSCC on point

Nothing drives me more crazy than when a campaign runs a series of seemingly disconnected attack ads on its opponent without any overall theme or message. Voters just don't pay enough attention to absorb those one shot attacks unless it's on something that's devastatingly effective. Richard Moore's campaign against Bev Perdue in the spring is a good example of this- one week she was corrupt, the next week she was racist, and ultimately it seemed the voters just decided he was petty.

The DSCC is not falling into that trap in its efforts against Elizabeth Dole. Their early message is that she hasn't been effective in Washington, and both their ads have reflected that. There's already some indication that Dole's numbers are being driven down, and I think the newest ad is an outstanding one. Sinister voice over ads have their place, but I like the creativity and humor in this one and think it's a lot more likely to catch the attention of viewers because it doesn't look like a campaign ad. That's a sure fire way to cut through the glut.

Dole's effectiveness is a good issue to get her on and so far the campaign has been well executed. There should be at least three new polls on this race in the next week and a half (with ours going into the field the latest) and it will certainly be interested to see how much of an impact this stuff continues to have.