dissecting the Senate ads

Monica Wehby shows us the the standard black and white image of the grainy, unflattering Jeff Merkley.  The voice snarls.  “Senator Jeff Merkley is a bad man.”  Fade to black.  Next shot.  Color, brightly lit.  Monica Wehby is walking down a hospital hallway, smiling and nodding with clipboard in hand at patients and / or co-workers.  The voice sparkles.  “But Monica Wehby has a different approach.”

And then, last screen, small image of Monica Wehby.  “I’m Monica Wehby, and I approve this message.”

The latest round of Jeff Merkley ads?  All very vacuuous.  Issue free.  Insulting, really.  He’s playing ping-pong in the garage with the kids.  The ball flies past him, because… well, he’s human, see, and that’s just how human he is.

And then the mailed out fliers, long the domain of these under the radar get to one targeted public and miss the general public messages and attacks…  So...

Campaign mailers can also tell you when a race is essentially over.
One that hit mailboxes last week came from the Humane Society Legislative Fund. On one side is the smiling face of Oregon’s junior U.S. senator. On the other, a blissfully sleeping golden retriever puppy.
“Rise & Shine,” reads the mailer. “Help animals by voting for Jeff Merkley!”

Attack the puppy, Monica Wehby.

And you know… in an alternate universe, the Oregon Republican Party’s gubernatorial and Senate candidates would be reversed, so … you know… the Republican Party might then have a chance against the Incumbent Democratic Governor (hilarious endorsement by the Willamette Week which spends an entire article ripping him to shreds, and then coming out with essentially “And Dennis Richardson sucks even more… vote for Kitzhaber.”)  instead of no chance in both races.

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