![[Matter Header Twitter.png]] #### Adam Hamilton Announcing himself against Roger Marshall This might be the sleeper race of the cycle and no longer a sleeper. National money is coming to Kansas at this writing. We suspect this ad has something to do with that.  The specifics of the case are BS. Lady in Question was a serial lout on payments and ignored almost a dozen court orders to appear. But the ad works because you believe her. Fifty bucks is a precise number. You remember it. You can picture the scene of a pregnant woman being handcuffed in front of a scared child. And you know immediately whom to blame for this scene of horror and fear: Senator Roger Marshall. Hamilton has a lot of work to do; Marshall has baggage. But this is one of those where the truth can never get int hew ay of a good spot; and the execution came in finding a testified who is too real not to believe. #### Todd Achilles In Idaho Getting Some Attention  This is a long shot race, and the spot is it not formatted for TV. But it’s the best combination of script and performance we’ve seen in the cycle so far. And it speaks to a difficult but important strategic insight: when you’re facing long odds in a race; invest in production and get the story right. Achilles needs attention. He needs the ActBlue donor machine, but he can’t go out and shill for it. Good on his team for making something on point, on brand, and eminently watchable. #### A Direct hit on Pete Ricketts  An intriguing example where circumstances might have forced the creative to be different than planned; in a good way. We’ve all heard the sad/scary story spots from a sympathetic victim of injustice (see KS above). In this hit on Ricketts, the victim is just a voice. She’s not named. She’s not pictured. Perhaps for reasons outside the production of the ad. But the effect is haunting. Like she’s talking from beyond the grave. Very little motion graphic work gets in the way of her voice. Once facts are established, the viewer knows immediately where to direct their ire: Pete Ricketts. #### Data center ad in Alabama you can't look away from  This probably isn’t going to be enough against Tommy Tuberville in ruby red Alabama. But we flag it for a couple reasons: - It’s fully interruptive of attention - just go for the original method! - It’s hitting the zeitgeist: especially in the south, data centers are a topic of local conversation. One core element of reportage on those conversations: everyone talks about sound from data centers. So why not reproduce it? It grounds the viewer immediately, but then interrupts their expectations one more time: ready to hear the old familiar beep of the station break.. they get a different kind of buzz. The message is absolutely clear, it’s not about anything else but what the advertiser wants you to understand. ## Some not so great ads - so far. #### Susan Collins and the BoSox-Yankees spot that wasn't Susan Collins is running the amazing campaign she always does. This swing was a whiff.  Friends, don't make an ad contingent on a sports outcome. The Yankees swept the BoSox in the AL wild car series. But doubly so, don't make cringey shit. No one hates Chuck Shumer because he's a Yankees fan. Stop making ads that assume your audience is stupid. Voters are profoundly ignorant. But they can smell a rat. But baseball fans attuned enough to the sport to tune in know that shoehorning fandom into politics is silly. #### Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota  There isn't a lot to say here. Just watch. You keep waiting for her to break the fourth wall and announce why she seems to be dressed in a red clip-on tie and too-big jacket, like a bit teasing Donald Trump. But she doesn't. It's just her. And it's really, really weird. Like I wouldn't want you babysitting my kids, let alone running my state. Weird. ##### Basically every ad from House Republicans caught on their heels this cycle. *Priors*: - We're fans of Bryan Steil here at The Matter, he's one of the good ones who puts in the work. - We don't mean to single anyone out per se; this stuff is endemic nationwide. *....Howevah*: [Steil's second ad is Grade A The Matter-bait. ](https://x.com/BryanSteil/status/2095919265018769835?s=20) [And it has him headed in the wrong direction](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/wisconsin-us-house-1-polls-2026.html) ![[SteilPolling1007.png]] We'll harp on this until our colleagues in GOP races wake up and realize this shit doesn't work anymore, whether you, dear reader, keep reading or not. Say it with us: *It doesn't matter what your mouth says when you're lying with your face. You don't get traction in 'change' elections when your all of your visual language says "I am more of the same." And you sure as hell can't do it when your actual, spoken language is more of the same.* *NO ONE BELIEVES YOU* Shall we play the hits? (It's just the shot-list of the spot!) - Slow mo-shot of the wife looking lovingly? Check - Walking grandma down the stairs? Check - "Normal guy" in a diner, sounding like he's in a hostage video? Check. - Hear-it see-it awkward pose at a table in slow-motion? check - Tax cuts from a Republican? Check - Working for You, I promise" Check - It's totally normal to sit at a park bench on the beach, with seven people standing around you, while you explain tax policy. People should do it more often. Plus, diversity!![[Screenshot 2026-10-07 at 4.49.53 PM.png]] - "Taking Action, I promise" - "Delivering Non-specific Results, I promise" Check. - "I won't take your social security, I promise" Check. - Dated serif graphic copy? Check - They really B-roll of Standing in a semi circle with dudes in ~~hard hats~~ protective eyewear, pointing at jobs? Check Politicians who are taking action, delivering results, and working for you are almost certainly doing none of the above. Why do we air ads about nothing, and wonder why numbers don't move? Look, different is hard. Sometimes too hard is bad.  [[Troy Balderson]] is trying to do something different. Another good guy who does it the right way. But this is just fake and cringey. A silly gag doesn't make me believe you. It has me watching a wrench the first time I watch. The second time, I'm looking away. We hope they both hang on. But it's time, as Republicans, to up our game; and stop producing like it's still 2008.