2008 Senate Elections: The Ad Wars

In a follow-up to a post I wrote a few nights ago concerning the top 10 Senate races most likely to flip from Republican to Democratic control this November, I want to share with you some of the great ads our Democratic challengers are going up on the air with:

First, as I've said before, the one candidate who I really would like to see make it to the Senate: Kay Hagan.  In this ad, Hagan focuses on the energy crisis:

Tom Allen is up on the air in Maine promising to, unlike Incumbent Susan Collins, to fight for the middle class:

Colorado's Mark Udall has an ad, similarly to Hagan in North Carolina, tackling the energy crisis:

Here's another ad from Mark Udall, this one focusing on foreign policy and national security: 

This is Kentucky's Bruce Lunsford first ad of the campaign in his bid to oust Mitch McConnel:

Former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen tackles Big Oil in this ad:

Here's a second ad from Shaheen talking about putting people first:

In this ad, Al Franken talks about the toll the Iraq War is taking on America domestically:

Mark Begich, in this ad, talks about his biography in Alaska and all he has accomplished for Alaskans as mayor of Anchorage:

Another great biographical ad is this one from New Mexico's Tom Udall:

This ad from Virginia's Mark Warner deals with all Warner did as Governor of Virginia and why his bi-partisan approach is the right one to clean up Washington:

Oregon's Jeff Merkley is up with this ad challenging Gordon Smith:

UPDATE: Another Sign of Democrats' Strength Heading into '08

Yesterday I wrote a post about Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's impressive fundraising numbers(considering she's the one Democrat who is expected to lose in '08). Here is an update, again showing the strength of the Democrats, even in traditionally red states.

In Virginia, a Republican state for the most part, a Democrat has more than double the amount of cash on hand than that of his two Republican opponents combined. Democrat Mark Warner has raised $1.1 million since he entered the race on 9/13. That means he raised over a million dollars in just two weeks (the money count was totaled at the end of September). His two potential GOP opponents, Jim Gilmore and Tom Davis, raised $200,000 and $222,000 respectively.

Warner won't seek re-election

Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia announced that he will not seek a sixth term in the 2008 election. Warner was first elected in 1978 and is now 80 years old. While Warner claims he currently feels good enough to run for Senator again, he doesn't want to make a six year commitment to the people of Virginia and then not be able to fulfill it:

"I want to be fair to this wonderful state, which has been eminently fair to me all these years. You’ve given me my best shot, and I’m quietly gong to step aside and make way for others."

Warner, I must say, has my respect. He, unlike many Republicans, has stood up and questioned the President and his administration on several issues, most recently stating that he feels we need to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Warner stood up for what he believed in and for that, I salute him.

But then there is of course the question of who will run for Warner's vacant Senate seat. If Warner ran again in '08, he would have been hard to defeat, but now the democrats have an excellent chance of winning another seat in the Senate. The most likely democrat to run is former Governor Mark Warner. Former Republican Governor, and former presidential candidate, Jim Gilmore, has stated his interest in running for the Senate as well. If Mark Warner and Gilmore are the two going head to head in the general election, I would bet that Mark Warner would score the victory. His popularity has lasted since he left the Governor's Mansion and Warner has always found a way to connect with voters. Expect to see the democrats jump on this opportunity and score a Senate seat victory.