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Susan Collins

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) has released an ad called “scorecard,” which brings up a number of statistics with the goal of showing that she is a more effective lawmaker than challenger U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland).

“Susan Collins and Tom Allen both entered Congress 12 years ago. Who’s been more effective?” the ad asks.

Collins ad claim 1: Collins wrote 55 bills and amendments that became law, Allen wrote 3

The campaign of state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Township) is criticizing its opponent, state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance), for receiving help from outside organizations spending money on advertising in the district.

The Schuring camp says groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Patriot Majority Midwest are attempting "to buy the seat for Youngstown Senator John Boccieri."

Schuring campaign manager PJ Wenzel is pointing to Federal Elections Commission reports, which they say shows "more than $1.6 million has been spent on negative advertising in the district, most on television ads and direct-mail pieces" aimed at "life-long district resident" Schuring.

AZ-1 Democratic candidate Ann Kirkpatrick has launched a new television add featuring Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil.  Pribil does a narrative talking about how Kirkpatrick is tough on crime. 

Not sure if John McCain's ad is up yet here, but I suspect we'll see it a lot in the coming weeks. Here's the script:

ANNCR: Washington's broken. John McCain knows it. We're worse off than we were four years ago.

Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. He'll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again.

He's the original maverick.

One is ready to lead -- McCain.

Populist stuff like this makes establishment Republicans a little queasy (Take on big tobacco and drug companies? Reform Wall Street? Battle Big Oil?), but this sort of ad could be a winner among independent voters.

For weeks leading up to the Olympics it looked like John McCain was not going to launch an ad buy.  McCain has changed his mind and has decided he will partake in the most expensive advertising buy of the summer.  McCain, who has been garnering a lot of attention lately with his negative attacks on Barack Obama has reserved $6 million of air time during the 2 weeks of Olympics which starts Friday. 

According to a report by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project released last week, the most important state in the ad war between Barack Obama and John McCain is Pennsylvania, where the two candidates and the Republican National Committee spent a total of $10.3 million on ads from June 3 to July 26.

This is nearly $4 million more than was spent in the second-ranked state, Ohio, which is home to a much closer presidential contest.

G. Terry Madonna -- director of the Center of Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster -- said this figure is a reflection of Pennsylvania’s unique geography, which places the largest media market of Philadelphia within reach of over a third of the state's population. The Philadelphia market -- which saw 3,311 ads since the end of the primaries -- is the fourth largest in the country and the largest in a competitive state.

With the state's "top two" primary coming up in just over two weeks, August and advertising go together like checks and envelopes at a campaign kickoff party. In addition to all the ads that have gone up lately, here is a rundown of who else is buying time on the airwaves to spread their message.

Governor Chris Gregoire is up with two new spots in Eastern Washington, called "Understanding Spokane" and "Understanding Yakima". The two ads are essentially the same, touting dry side roots and Eastern Washington-specific job growth as well as farm and water policies enacted under Gregoire, but differ when talking about where Gregoire spent time earlier in her life.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is going on the air with the campaign's first set of television ads today. The spot, entitled "Better", focuses on Rossi's theme of providing new leadership in Olympia to solve problems with transportation, education and the economy.

The spot shows a close-up of a smiling Rossi delivering the lines from a couch, followed by graphic displays of the points he is making. It also begins and ends with the scene of a river flowing through trees, and Rossi wearing a green shirt next to a forest.

See that ad and its script below.

Rep. Rick LarsenRep. Rick Larsen (D-Arlington), the four-term incumbent from Northwest Washington's 2nd Congressional District, began airing his first campaign ads on the radio Monday on stations throughout the district. The spot highlights Larsen's work in expanding health care access for veterans, notably the opening of clinics in Mt. Vernon and Sedro Woolley.

Larsen is being challenged by former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart (R-Arlington), who has yet to advertise and whose campaign was in debt as of the latest filing period at the end of June.

Read the full transcript of the radio ad below the jump.

After early reports showed a gaping hole in the 8th Congressional District television markets, new numbers show that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has reserved nearly a million dollars on Seattle television stations for this year's election.

According to the Washington Post, the DCCC will spend $949,000 on ads will support Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) in her second bid to unseat Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn). Given the size of the market, that means voters are likely to see the ads just over twice a week when they air.