SO I've been watching the latest round of political ads here in Oregon, where the only really truly contested race is Gordon Smith (R) vs. Jeff Merkley (D) for US Senate.
I'm not the biggest Gordon Smith fan, and BOTH sides' ads are particularly negative, but here's the part that has struck me as interesting:
Every pro-Smith ad, and all but ONE anti-Merkley ad, that I've seen, has been accompanied by the now cliche, "I'm Gordon Smith, and I approve of this ad". But EVERY ad I've seen promoting Merkley or attacking Smith has been the responsibility of, and sponsored by, one liberal PAC or another -- SEIU, the Oregon Democratic Party. Not ONCE have I heard from my TV, "I'm Jeff Merkley, and I approve of this ad".
Which is interesting, because the ads approve of HIM. Pity the man doesn't have the balls to speak for himself.
UPDATE 8/21:
It's about time. I finally saw one of the pro-Merkley ads today, one that was originally either a DSCC or SEIU-COPE ad, that is now ending with, "I'm Jeff Merkley, and I approve of this ad". I guess I'm not the only one who commented on this.
