Mitt Romney Goes By The Book

You're running a campaign and not very many people know who you are, so you run the classic political bio spot. Beefy sounding announcer, strong shots of candidate, glowing statement from wife, swelling music and a truckload of media money.

If he's going to gain ground on McCain and Giuliani this work is going to have to get better.

It's called "Unplugged." We have no idea why.

Joe Kennedy Will Keep You Warm

Former Rep. Joe Kennedy is running an ad for his Citizens Energy Corporation and he's the one taking the heat.

The ad starts off with touching stories of poverty-stricken senior citizens struggling to keep the heat on. Then we hear the good news that these people can get heating oil for 40% off thanks to our "friends" in Venezuela and, of course, Joe Kennedy.

Rep. Connie Mack (R-Florida) has already written Kennedy a letter to complain. See it for yourself here.

Billy Harper Cuts A Mean Light

One candidate is putting a spin on the word race for Kentucky governor. We've seen candidates behind the wheel before, but this is the first time we've seen someone in a race car. The spot "First to Finish" features Harper behind the wheel of his IHRA Pro Mod Viper. Our sources tell us he's quite the hot shoe, too.

The spots from Dresner Wickers are pretty mundane, but we like drag racing so we'll go along. Next time you see Billy ask him how his 60-foot times are holding up.

Check our "First To Finish" here.

Tom Leppert Wants To Be Your Mayor

It's kind of slow out here in political ad land, so we're watching a few larger city mayor's races. The first one up on TV (as far as we know) is Dallas's Tom Leppert.

Nice, simple spot that shows him to be a nice guy who wants to do nice things. Hey, at least it's not another ad from Move On.

Check out Tom's ad here.

MoveOn.org Has Officially Run Out Of Ideas

In their latest commercial escalating the fight against escalation, the folks at MoveOn.org finished concepting before the idea truck arrived. It's a series of official portraits of different senators each with a voice balloon that says "escalate."

Brilliant. (That was meant to be sarcastic, by the way, just so no one takes the quote out of context like in movie ads. "Political Ad Guy says the new Move On spot is 'brilliant!'")

If you're having trouble sleeping, check out the new spot here.

Avaaz.org: Who Short-Sheeted Jacques Chirac's Bed?

It's the political version of the summer doldrums. MoveOn.org (in all its various funded versions) is the only group running anything. Avaaz.org is trying the humorous approach only without the humor.

They show Bush sleeping with a teddy bear, Putin sleeping with a pistol and, for some strange reason, Chirac sleeping with his feet sticking out of the bed.

Somebody please run for something, we can't take much more of this. Check out the Avaaz.org spot here.