Democrat Joe Sestak’s cheeky TV ad about dog poop has tails wagging in the fiercely contested Pennsylvania Senate race.
In the ad, Sestak compares cleaning up after his family dog Belle to cleaning up the economic mess that he says his GOP rival Pat Toomey and former President George W. Bush played a big part in creating.
“My family loves Belle, but she can make a mess,” Sestak says in the ad, which ran for more than a week.
There’s a shot of Sestak gingerly depositing a bag of dog doo in a trash barrel.
“It made me sick to bail out the banks, but I had to clean up the mess left by these guys,” Sestak adds, with a photo of Toomey and Bush behind him.
Toomey complained Monday that Sestak, a U.S. representative, is using the ad to duck responsibility for his votes on such things as the Wall Street bailout and the economic stimulus package.
“The fact is, Joe Sestak deserves more than his fair share of the blame for this, and nobody but Joe Sestak is responsible for his votes,” Toomey said. “I just don’t think people are going to be fooled by that.”
Every election appears to feature at least one memorable ad that manages to break through the heavy clutter of campaign attack commericals that flood the television airwaves. Pennsylvania Democrats are hoping Sestak’s dog ad can propel him to the Senate.
Donald Bradbury, 43, an independent from the Philadelphia suburb of Media who is leaning toward voting for Toomey, said he snickered when he first saw the ad. But he’d prefer it if candidates ignored gimmicks and stuck to the issues.
“No one cares about his dog,” said Bradbury, a computer technician.
Mary Walker, 66, a Democrat from the suburban community of Secane and a retired energy company administrator, said while she’s sick of all the political ads on TV, she enjoyed Sestak’s dog ad.
“That hit home because we’ve been cleaning up after the Republic ans,” she said.
The Campaign Group, the political firm that worked on the “Belle” ad with Sestak, also helped produce an ad that played a big role in propelling Sestak past longtime Sen. Arlen Specter in the May primary.
Specter suffered from the perception among Democratic voters that he was a Republican at heart and switched his party registration last year only for personal political gain. The ad struck home by quoting Specter in an apparent boast that his party switch “will enable me to be re-elected.”
Sestak said late Monday that his dog ad was effective because it was simple and unique.
“It really broke through for us,” he said, adding that the ad has been popular online as well.
Sestak said his campaign was preparing to air a new ad that featured him speaking directly to the camera to talk about accountability.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More