Dems Keep Distance From Own Party in Ads

President Obama and Nancy Pelosi are showing up in lots of political ads these days—and they're almost always Republican ads, notes the New York Times. In general, vulnerable Democratic incumbents are distancing themselves from their party and legislative victories like health care—and instead portraying themselves as anti-government outsiders in tune with voter anger. The change comes as the GOP outspent Democrats $20 million to $13 million on TV ads in the last 6 weeks.

“This will be the most negative election we’ve probably ever seen, because everyone is trying to tap into voters on an emotional level,” one media analyst tells the Times. In one ad, for example, Democrat Suzanne M. Kosmas of Florida declares, “People in this district are mad, and I’m mad, too.” As for all those GOP ads with the president and House speaker: Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan has resorted to an ad reminding people that she—not Obama or Pelosi—is running against Republican Roy Blunt.
(More midterm elections stories.)