Democrat Ashwin Madia led the way with a figure tantalizingly close to $1 million, as his campaign  already previewed: $996,619. Madia reported a nearly identical amount of cash on hand ($995,003) as of Sept. 30. His Republican opponent, state Rep. Erik Paulsen’s report shows the Republican’s congressional campaign took in $840,000 and has $1.1 million cash on hand.

Meanwhile, David Dillon’s Independence Party campaign raised $109,000 from July 1 to Sept. 30. Dillon also had almost the same amount of cash on hand (almost $100,000) — although $100,000 of that came from his own wallet in what he described to the Minnesota Independent as a loan. As a proportion of Dillon’s total war chest, it puts him among the top 10 self-funding candidates in the country.

TV spending nears $6 million

A great place to see where all that money is going is Minnesota Public Radio’s (MPR) new online TV ad spending  database, which shows that in the 3rd District race, candidates and outside groups have so far shelled out $5.8 million for TV this election cycle — that’s nearly a third of what is being spent on metro-area TV ads in Minnesota’s record-setting U.S. Senate race ($19.5 million); it’s also $1.5 million more than is being spent on Twin Cities TV for the presidential race ($4.3 million).

Reporter Tom Scheck tells MnIndy that within news cycle constraints, MPR intends to make the rounds of six broadcast stations (plus Comcast cable) to update the database with the latest revisions and additions to political ad buys.

Dillon hits the airwaves

One thing that won’t show up on MPR’s sweet new toy is Dillon’s 60-second radio spot, which is airing on Clear Channel stations KEEY-FM (K102), KFAN-AM and KTCZ (Cities 97) through the end of the month — and probably right up to the election, campaign manager Bruce Anderson tells MnIndy.

The ad opens with Dillon intoning, “Man, am I sick of the political ads,” and ends with a silly kicker in the rapid-fire disclaimer section: “Images in mirror are closer than they may appear.” Hear it on one of those fine channels, at Dillon’s campaign Web site or here.

Marine-on-St. CroixMarine, Minnesota

The latest TV ad from the Minnesota congressional campaign of Democrat Ashwin Madia — which intercuts Madia addressing the camera (in a suit, outside the University of Minnesota armory) with stock footage of Marines drilling – has drawn a sharp critique from U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn. Under the headline “Congressman John Kline Blasts Ashwin Madia For Using Uniformed Marines To Advance His Political Ambitions,” the Republican Party of Minnesota on Tuesday released this statement from Kline:

“As a retired member of the United States Marine Corps, I am outraged that Ashwin Madia would exploit uniformed Marines to advance his political ambitions. By displaying footage of the elite U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Team in his campaign ads, Madia implies an endorsement of his candidacy that is inaccurate and inappropriate. He should immediately pull down the ad and issue an apology to the drill team and the brave men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps.”

To which Madia responded with this statement:

“I am proud to have served in the Marines and in Iraq. Once a Marine, always a Marine, and I am proud, and will always be proud, to stand by my fellow Marines. Through my service in the Marines, I learned team work and discipline. We need more of that in Congress. I am talking about those needs in my new ad and on the campaign trail. In these challenging times, Minnesotans are looking for leadership and vision from the people they send to Washington — the leadership and vision necessary to get our country back on track. I will continue to communicate my positive message of change to the people of the Third District.”

In response to an inquiry from MnIndy, Eric Schmeltzer at the Madia-backing veterans’ organization VoteVets.org — which late Wednesday issued a statement calling Kline’s attack a smear (“Shame on Erick Paulsen fo rusing others to hurl baseless smears against an honorable war veteran”) — laid it out like this:

Here’s the deal. You cannot use a troop in uniform if he is on active duty, and it’s a picture you specifically took for a campaign ad. You can use stock photos and footage if you like as long as you don’t use it in a way that makes it seem that troop is endorsing your campaign (though it could cause headaches if the person in the stock footage is dead or for your opponent or something). But if you contact Lieutenant Smith and say “Hey, can you send us a picture of you in uniform so we can use it and say you’re endorsing our campaign?” that would not be kosher, if he is on active duty. Active duty soldiers cannot take part in any partisan politics, period. If he’s a reservist, or separated from the service, then it’s a bit less of a problem to use a picture of him from when he was on active duty.

Michael Brodkorb, a campaign staffer for state Rep. Erik Paulsen, Madia’s Republican opponent, opines on his blog:

Did the uniformed Marines in Madia’s campaign ad give their permission for their images to be “used” for Madia’s political purposes? I don’t know, but it’s very unlikely. Both Kline and Madia have appropriately used pictures of themselves in uniform in campaign advertisements for biographical purposes. But Kline raises a very good point about the appropriateness of Madia’s TV ad. The impression from Madia’s ad is that the Marines are endorsing and performing for Madia.

Joe Bodell at Minnesota Campaign Report takes issue with Kline’s use of his own uniformed image in his TV ads:

Aaron Landry at MnPublius grabbed the photo below from Paulsen’s campaign Web site. Whether it’s an infraction depends on several factors, including the active-duty status of the person in uniform. But there’s no question the photo flagrantly violates at least one universal law … of photo composition. Never stick a pole into your subject’s head.