A fat cat lights up in the DCCC's new ad.

A fat cat lights up in the new DCCC ad

While the country turned its fickle eyes to Minnesota’s suddenly compelling 6th Congressional District contest, the race for the state’s 3rd District didn’t stop being hot. Over the last two days, both major parties’ congressional committees unveiled new TV ads. Big male guns vouched for the Republican candidate, state Rep. Erik Paulsen, and big female guns tried to widen a gender gap in favor of DFLer Ashwin Madia — while heaping derision on another female office-holder, state Rep. Michele Bachmann. All this and more, with video and details about tonight’s candidate debate in Edina, after the jump.

Candidate debate tonight

Independence Party candidate David Dillon will join Paulsen and Madia on stage at Edina High School’s Fick Auditorium tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 8 p.m. for a debate sponsored by Debate Minnesota. Click here for directions to the event at 6754 Valleyview Road, Edina.

Both major parties’ congressional committees on TV again

When last heard from in the 3rd District race, the National Republican Campaign Committee was canceling reservations for TV ad time one week after the next. Now they’re back in the game with a new ad called “Running to Raise Taxes” that bashes Madia on Paulsen’s behalf. The NRCC shelled out $96,500 for spots this week on KMSP and KSTP, and another $350,000 for spots next week through Election Day on those stations plus WCCO, according to MPR’s TV ad database.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee continues to roll out TV ads attacking Paulsen. The latest is called “Our Tax Dollars for Their Cash Bonuses.”

Paulsen’s ad slammed

Meanwhile, the Paulsen campaign’s own new ad earned a D grade in a “Truth Test” evaluation by KSTP’s Tom Hauser, who called its claims “misleading” and “false.” Ironically, Hauser cites distortions in how Paulsen mixes and matches quotes and images from harsh evaluations Hauser himself gave earlier to ads produced by Madia and the DCCC.  He also calls out Paulsen for quoting a Madia statement on taxes out of context, as MnPublius caught early on.

Men for Paulsen, Women for Madia

Many prominent hands gripped podiums on Monday in separate press events for Paulsen and Madia. Perhaps as striking as the speakers’ prominence was the sharp gender split that mirrors a gender gap that’s growing in recent polls. Gov. Tim Pawlenty and U.S. Rep. John Kline were part of a seven-man team at the state Capitol vouching for Paulsen’s record on veterans. Across town in Bloomington, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher were kicking off (somewhat belatedly?) a campaign called Women for Madia. The boy-girl split on those two panels reflected a gender gap in voter support for Madia and Paulsen revealed in the latest SurveyUSA poll: Men back Paulsen by a margin of 51–37 percentage points, while women favor Madia by a margin of 51–40 percentage points. It’s a gap that’s grown slightly since an earlier survey by the same organization in late August, and possibly could have widened further with Pelosi’s visit — had her criticism of Bachmann not eclipsed the Women for Madia message. 

(The Republican male lineup is on view in a Paulsen campaign video. MPR has a whopping nine audio clips from Monday’s dueling press events.)

And as if on cue, NARAL Pro-Choice America declared this to be “Ashwin Madia Week,” one of a series of “Race of the Week” fundraising and attention-raising efforts. Here’s how a spokesperson described it in a statement sent to the Minnesota Independent:

NARAL Pro-Choice America will drop a total of four mail pieces and our volunteers will make calls in support of pro-choice Ashwin Madia. Madia’s record on a woman’s right to choose is far superior to that of his opponent’s and we look forward to working with him when he becomes a congressman. NARAL Pro-Choice America will do everything we can to make sure that’s possible. While we can’t confirm the amount of donations we drive to a campaign with our blog posts, we can confirm that NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC has sent the maximum amount allowed by the FEC to his campaign. Our PAC is funded by our members so they pay close attention to our endorsements and “Race of the Week” picks. Our political director routinely receives calls from members and activists about candidates and races to support throughout the country and we always make sure to mention Ashwin Madia’s race.