Democrat Attack Ads Get Personal Before Midterms

From Howard Kurtz:

If the Republicans have their way, the election will turn on whether Democrats are the party of runaway government.

Now, with time running out, the Democratic Party is fighting back—and not just by trying to brand many GOP candidates as extremists. The new line is that they’re sleazebags.

We’re talking ugly stuff here, accusing one opponent of threatening his wife, another of indifference to employee deaths, a third of trying to evict a child.

An onslaught of negative ads has become standard procedure for both parties, with the most incendiary fare held in reserve until the final days.

Republicans have run some highly personal ads on immigration, with a Sharron Angle commercial, for instance, proclaiming that Harry Reid is the “best friend an illegal alien ever had.” (Angle and Reid are neck-in-neck, according to the Election Oracle.)

But the unmistakable theme of this eleventh-hour blitz by Democratic Party committees is that the Republican contenders are unethical and untrustworthy business types. While President Obama accuses the opposition of wanting to lurch backwards to the Bush years, Democratic strategists—those in the trenches—are playing a rougher game.

Kurtz includes the attacks, from top to bottom: A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee attack on Linda McMahon in Connecticut; a DSCC attack on Ken Buck in Colorado; and on John Raese in West Virginia; plus, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee attack on Scott DesJarlais in Tennessee; a DCCC attack on David Schweikert in Arizona; and finally, the DSCC unloads on Christine O'Donnell in Delaware: