John Kerry has three new TV ads which will be airing mostly in Democrat-heavy states, such as California and New York, as well as liberal-heavy Wisconsin and Washington.

Huh? Why's he doing that?

Hesiod has a good explanation: "Psychological warfare". That is, running ads in Dem-heavy states will energize the base and boost Kerry's national numbers overall, to counteract the apparent stagnation shown in the just-released polls from Gallup and the Washington Post. (though the Zogby poll, taken during the exact same period, gives Kerry better news)

Consider the content of the ads: One on choice, one on the environment, and on that's a hybrid of those. Those issues are the ones where Kerry can draw the most clear distinction between himself and Bush, saying "a Bush win means restrictions on a woman's right to choose". That message is probably targeted at some of that hypothetical 4% that could support Nader, and there's more of them in the blue states than the red ones. This is "shore up the base" stuff, so it makes sense.

That said, take a look at the commercials. I'm sorry, but if I had to sum up my reaction to their style, I'd give two words: "DeVry Institute". They look like ads for little technical business colleges, with the narrator's tone, the wide-screen with white borders, the music. Maybe I'm a bit off on this, but we can do better right?

Though in general, playing mock ad-exec, light colors and color-cameras equals positive ad, while black borders and b&w equals negative attack ad, right? Anyway, off to dinner.