Last night I posted a couple independent expenditures from the NRCC against Hackett and said that more would be likely to come over the next few days. Like a train arriving on schedule a slew of independent expenditures have arrived tonight from the NRCC illustrating their utter desperation while they try to save OH-02. What's of little surprise is the direction that the I.E's are tilted towards, and the fact that there's at least one, probably two more batches of expenditures left to come before the election next Tuesday.

The expenditures can be found at the FEC's website, what they tell us says a lot about the modern Republican Party and the state of the race in OH-02. First the NRCC has dropped $304 thousand dollars into this race. Of that money 94% is spent attacking Hackett in a district Bush won by more than 20 points, and the previous Republican won by more than 40 points. This doesn't count the $15,000 that they spent against Hackett yesterday on a mailing paving their way for these phone calls, and upcoming mail pieces. As Tim mentioned the ads are playing at 1,800 points (a measure that denotes that 100% of TV households would see the ad 18 times) in the congressional market, powerful enough for one to repeat the slogan in their sleep.

No one knows what's in the ads themselves, except the fact that they attack Hackett, and the entire media, mail and phone campaign is designed to raise the negatives and reduce the positive views that many people in the district hold for Hackett. What one knows and can surmise from the media coverage that the Ohio GOP is trying to receive, and that we've all seen coming out of the district is that the message is to question and downplay the "patriotism" of Hackett. If I had a friend who lived in the second district I would deliver the message that the Bush campaign sent to their supporters the week before the election right before their own push phone calls, and mail pieces depicting Kerry's head next to the burning world trade center building went out, Turn on your answering machines. The ad, while probably disgusting is always more subtle than the message the NRCC will be trying to send out to a targeted audience over the mail, which is less subtle than what they will say on the phone.

Post Script: Shouldn't someone be asking the GOP why in such a strong Republican district they would have to resort to disparaging a veteran running as a Democrat, instead of highlighting the strengths of their own candidate and the great policy proposals they tell us that every American is dying to see implemented. Maybe Rothenberg can include those kinds of questions in his next roundup.

Update: Link to anti-Kerry flyer fixed.