32 Comments - Jay - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 9:39 am: Hare’s cooked . People actually care about the Constitution in the 17th . - Andy - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 9:44 am: I think that Rich is a little out of touch. Hare is a pathetic candidate and the media has been 100% in his court. Hare is going down and everyone knows it. Can’t wait till the DCCC completely pulls out and gives up on him. - Andy - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 9:46 am: Nevermind. Misread your statement on it. You were actually pointing out that the media is in his court and isn’t acknowledging that he is in trouble. Apologies Rich! - Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 9:48 am: Next time you comment here, Andy, take your hyper partisan goggles off first. Thanks. - Responsa - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:03 am: Hare’s ad message is laughable : Yeah, Washington sucks and Pelosi and Reid are the devil. They are my party’s leadership. Fer sure, Washington has caused some big hurt for you good folk out there in 17th District-land. I’ve represented you in Washington for a while now. I obviously was one of the people whose votes enabled Pelosi and Reid to hurt you and your family. Send me back to Washington! Oh, and BTW I sure hope this ad doesn’t tip off my constituency as to how stupid I think you all are! XXOO, Phil OY. Production values B+. Message effectiveness for the current circumstances and for showing that he has a clue. D. - 17th Dem - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:03 am: Hare’s ad is a 6. Obviously this message is playing well - but it still does not have the punch that I expected the first ad to have. He needs to step it up and really go after Schilling. This will be a very dirty race - but as it is going to be all over the state and nationally - the only way the Democrats are going to stop the bleeding is by going extremely negative. Kirk’s ad will play well - tough to run on a tax increase theme this year. I would give it a 8 especially tying Quinn to Alexi - yikes that is not a relationship you want to run on right now. - Former Downstater - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:05 am: Hare has known for a few months that the race was going to be tight and he’s doing the right thing by defining his opponent early. That’s the type of thing that will have an impact on a lot of these races; the generic poll question doesn’t matter much once TV and mail starts pounding in. The R’s in the 17th have almost no real organization and labor has had years of practice working the vote. Ask Mark Baker what it was like getting out organized and out worked in his races against Lane Evans. - just sayin' - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:10 am: Mark Kirk is such a sleaze to hit Alexi on taxes he MIGHT vote to support sometime down the road. Meanwhile Kirk is the guy who already voted for the largest tax increas in American history, Cap & Trade. That massive tax increase failed, but not for Kirk’s lack of trying. - bored now - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:29 am: ehh. kirk’s ad was a weak punch, at best. hare’s was worse. and randy? hope and change? really? that’s so 2008. shoulda just burned the money… - Raising Kane - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:30 am: former downstater: Phil Hare is no Lane Evans. Lane had a lot of respect out there, even among Repubs. Hare doesnt have a fraction of that sentiment. That race will be very close. As for Alexi, he needs to buckle up. Kirk has a massive financial advantage and that ad is just the first (and I think very good salvo) in a long progression of tough ads. It only gets worse from here. - D.P. Gumby - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:31 am: Ignoring the “truthiness” factor, Hultgren is B+ visually appealing, warm and positive while being nationally negative. Hare’s C–message is appropriate to the base in the district but should be stronger and the Howdy-Doodie pix of opponent is still too nice. Kirk B–nice and sleezie; fudges what taxes Alexi talking about and links him to PQ, also links him to that other guy who never paid his taxes (who was that slacker anyway–oh, yeah Brady, well the viewer won’t remember)–and makes Alexi look funny…but where’s the mob banker?? - downstate hack - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:33 am: Kirk’s ad A-, Hits where it hurt’s Alexi the most Hultgren’s ad, Very good first ad A, Very effective for his district. Will be an interesting race. See what Foster comes up with to counter the anti tax, anti D.C. mood. Hare’s Ad, Too abrupt and negative without a direct reason to blame his opponent for the job shift to China. A lot of district voters will blame Hare and D.C. on that issue. C grade for the Ad. - Ghost - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:35 am: Kirk finally had a decent attack ad up. Not a single reference to mob banker, which to me was not working. The tax issue plays wel, BUT it sure sets up Quinn to go after Brady on the same issue, By quoting Kirk “Wealty brady paid no taxes last year”…. - A.B. - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:38 am: Hare’s ad was weak, maybe a C- Hultgren, nice opening shot, but it is clearly a name ID piece. Kirk just dropped a hammer on Gianoulias. (not to AG’s surprise) A solid A with that one. That will help to solidify the R base and further entice soft AG voters to just stay home this year. - wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:41 am: Maybe I’m late to the party, so to speak, but are party brand names dead in political ads everywhere? Not a mention of affiliation in any of these. - RikiTavi - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 10:41 am: Kirk’s ad an A. Very good. Alexi’s own words. Ouch. Hare’s ad had the cookie cutter “extreme” claims that angry voters will probably ignore–as if Schilling really WANTS to send jobs overseas. Okay. D. - Ahoy - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 11:03 am: Thought Kirk had a nice ad, good attach ad. Hare’s was odd, I have no clue what the point he was trying to get across especially in his attack on Shilling, maybe I was just missing something… which makes me think it’s a bad ad. The last ad seemed like a commercial for some bad sitcom on FOX. - Bakersfield - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 11:13 am: Can only see these with the sound off while at work, but Kirk’s really looks good, ties Alexi to one of the 3 politicans in the state less popular than either Alexi or Kirk, and uses his own words against him. As for the Hultgren ad, what is with all the flashes and gyrating? Thank goodness I am not epiliptic or else my co-workers would be calling an ambulance for me now- a visual C- at best. - Responsa - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 11:19 am: US SENATE ad: B Using Alexi’s actual video footage and quote about taxes is effective and feels fair as a way to highlight his position. The slam about Alexi not paying taxes gets *at* the “rich and not very competent banker” image WITHOUT using the mob banker epithet that everybody is so fricken sick and tired of. This ad is all about defining Kirk’s opponent in an unfavorable light, but it certainly is not screaming banshee negative in the way most of us usually think of as NEGATIVE in political ads. If only this type of ad could be a template for semi-civility in the “dueling neener-neener” ads we’ll be getting from these 2 campaigns over the next few weeks–oh, never mind. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 12:14 pm: Kirk ad is slick and effective - A Hultgren is OK - B Then there is Hare. He is an easy cartoon congressman. He is a bad campaigner. You feel pity for him. He has not brought new voters to him to replace the ones he’s lost thru age. He does not even know his district as well as he should. He does not understand why voters are angry. Schilling has become an excellent campaigner. He was not supposed to be. He was supposed to be a token GOP God and family Osmond Brothers style pizza guy. Instead, he has bloomed. Hare will lose if this is a wave as big as currently forecasted. - Newsclown - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 12:33 pm: Well, Hultgren’s spot has catered to the ADHD voters at the cost of losing the Epileptic voter block. - Louis Howe - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 12:49 pm: C - Decent message…wrong messenger….I know and like Phil Hare, but he’s not the most telegenic TV personality…Too many candidates want to deliver the TV message when it’s generally more forcefully delivered by “real people” testimonials and a professional voiceover. - Honest Abe - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 12:53 pm: Kirk’s ad is okay and may play better with first time viewers, but, for those who have been following the race to date, it is repetitive. Hare’s ad struck me as sort of weak. NAFTA and Most favored nation status for China have hurt American economy, but Hare omits to acknowledge that bipartisan politics promoted these changes (Bush 41 and Clinton). Clinton was on board when NAFTA passed. Hare is in a desperate fight if he has to try distort the facts to pick up a few votes. I am not clear how Lane Evans or Phil Hare voted on theses issues, if they were involved at all. I do not think that Hare was the Congressman when some of these decisions were made. - Responsa - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 12:55 pm: Hultgren’s ad IS sort of hard on the eyes and nervous system (HT newsclown). But when it is heard playing in the background while one is cooking, reading, painting, or doing odd jobs, the message is very crisp, focused and uncluttered. Therefore the narrative is memorable. A- - Demo - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 1:45 pm: From the looks of things it seems Hare might have eaten all the jobs! Somebody get this guy to the gym. - wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 2:10 pm: Hare looks like a lot of guys you might see coming out of a Deere plant, or a feed store or a VFW Hall or a bait shop in his district. A lot of them are married, so you know the ladies there love the look. They threw every nice-haircut and tanned local TV news personality at Lane Evans, but none could beat him or his John Lennonn circa Ed Sullivan Show haircut. - Jonesy - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 2:12 pm: I really like Phil Hare, but is he really trying to suggest that Schilling is responsible for shipping jobs overseas? Come on! Schilling is a pizza guy! - KnuckleHead - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 3:11 pm: “..hyper partisan goggles off first.” Beer Goggles for everyone! - CM46 - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 9:09 pm: Rate the ads: Kirk: Production Quality A. Content B While he lays the smackdown on Kirk on taxes. He does a sideswipe at Brady. Whether intentional or not is yet to be seen. Does Kirk hate Brady or something? I wonder about him. Over all Ad A-. Phil Hare: Production Quality: C- Don’t like that the ad backdrop is dark. Phil needs some lighter background. I don’t know the man that well but his commercial doesn’t perk my interest much. Just looking at it from a production frame of mind. I do like however that he has his website on the bottom for the entire commercial and it’s separate from the main portion. Get rid of the blue line at the top, it does nothing for the commercial and the top of the picture is cut off. I am mixed about the pic of Schilling used. In a way I like it because when the person is talking about tax breaks for corporations Schilling is smiling. On the other hand with sound off, I see Schilling’s smiling teeth and it’s my focus. I think they should decolor him. The third ad: Production Quality: D-. Oh my gosh. The first part, the color is whacked and hurts the eyes. Then the subliminal messages behind are annoying and distracting to me. The flashes of light. It’s something that will get your attention but it will also make you want to look away. The only thing I liked was the transition where it had his name and logo. Content B-: Still reeling from the graphics, - Jon Zahm - Thursday, Sep 9, 10 @ 11:26 pm: Who would have thought last summer when Schilling started out that Phil Hare would have to come out of his bunker and speak Bobby Schilling’s name and publicize his stock campaign photo in a TV ad? Unless Bobby or his campaign makes a gaffe he will pull this out. He is running a great grassroots campaign (disclosure- I’m one of the active volunteers). - Montecore - Friday, Sep 10, 10 @ 2:35 am: When Scott Brown announced for Senate in Massachusetts, his candidacy was a joke. It seemed silly for him to be going around the state. But he won. Ditto for Schilling. By the way, it has been over a decade since the last congressional vote on Most Favored Nation trade status for China. He is ranting against Bill Clinton’s trade policies. Phil Hare is dazed and confused. And going down. - CM46 - Friday, Sep 10, 10 @ 1:40 pm: I meant to say lays the smackdown on Giannoulis… Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.