I'm trying to figure out what Michael means by the Kilgore ad being more clever.

I can see that McDonnell's ad attempts to hides his very short stature (pretty clearly the reason for the really strange camera angle with the police officers). But, as Michael points out, that shouldn't be surprising to note in a down-ticket ad.

So, the flip side of Michael's commentary appears to be a subtle indication that something is getting hidden in Kilgore's up-ticket commercial. So, what's the secret subtext, folks?

Mike --

You should ask Kilgore's folks when folks in the DC media market can expect to see this spot.

So.....

this tells me that Terry must be the brighter of the two brothers when it comes to mastering the public speaking lessons Jerry's been having. Way to Go, Terry! You and your brother are doing a "heckuva of a job, alright."

and, thank you, Binky, for helping me to identify that vague uncertainty I have when reading Shear's stories.

You know, of course, that Pamela Stallsmith from the Richmond Times-Dispatch SCOOPED him by two weeks on the story about Republican Heavy-Hitters crossing party lines to support Kaine.

And, then there's also the "food theme" that recurs in his musings on the campaign trail ... instead of reporting who was at the Big Dinner Sit-Down recently, what was said, Shear writes about the MENU! The MENU!

Maybe he wants to become the "Food Critic" for the Washington Post?

Mike:

"take a loot..."?

Is this a Kilgore policy statement?

Hmm, political figures with black hair and mustaches...

Well, here's a thought......what if Terry shaved off his mustache and debated Kaine....no one would be the wiser....and clearly Terry is the brighter bro.....

Two points on the Kilgore add:

1) The Terry ad should refute once and for all any suggestion that Kilgore's manner of speaking can be traced to his rural routes.

2) The "we both favor cutting taxes" line is a little ironic in view of the fact that Terry voted for the 2004 budget, TK's support for which Kilgore has repeatedly used to brand him as a high tax liberal.

excuse me, that's "rural roots", guess i have transportation on the brain....

Actually, if you look at older pics of Jerry, he did wear a mustache, so it was hard to tell the difference between the two until either opened their mouths and took a stand on issues.

If you look at their records, you'll see that they have stood apart on many things. Their records are significantly different--and not really to Jerry's favor.

So, I don't know what this ad is trying to do (except perhaps a subtle jab at NLS by "NOT" being Jerry Kilgore). Maybe woo over Terry supporters who don't realize the distinction on records and experience? Or perhaps is it not subtle at all (sorry, Michael), constituting only a folky attempt at feel-goodism?

The trouble for Jerry is that the Kilgore camp's negative claims are increasingly getting exposed as fabrications (see today's WAPO feature on Kilgore's misrepresentation of Kaine's transportation record).

When exposed in lies (like these), candidates lose their reputation for integrity, particularly among undecided voters. I don't think that happy talk like this ad can ever even start to win back trust.

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.