Matt Jacobson's first radio ad, featuring the longest crescendo in Maine political history:

Susan Collins emailed out one last web ad to her list today, again attacking Allen on the issue of congressional attendance. I imagine her campaign is thrilled to be closing the campaign sparring over voting percentages rather than talking about the economy or Iraq or a half-dozen other hot-button issues that are cutting against Republicans this year. If she wins this week, which seems almost certain, it will be because she has almost completely controlled the narrative of the campaign.

Kevin Wack implies that the Rasmussen poll showing Collins with her largest lead since April likely signals that the game is over. Even Collins Watch seems to have given up the ghost.

Democratic Representative and District 35 Senate candidate Troy Jackson is the subject of a negative ad that accuses him of sleeping on the job and includes a photo of him napping in the legislative chamber. WAGM reported on his response:

While WAGM reports that the ad was a "mail brochure," PolitickerME reports that it appeared in a newspaper, and has much more on the subject.

Here's the photo:

Chellie Pingree debuts a new TV ad showcasing her clean sweep of major newspaper endorsements:

Chuck Quintero from the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee sends over an anti-Snowe-Mello radio spot playing in District 15 and provides this comment:

We think this is an issue that is pertinent to voters of District 15. Lois Snowe-Mello has lied to voters about her role in the puppy mill and changed her story, voters need to know about that. How can they trust her to stand up for them if she protects the special interests. This is a clear distinction between Deb and Lois. Deb was against puppy mills and Lois was protecting the owners, who are now fugitives from the law.

Time and time again Lois Snowe-Mello has made the wrong choice when it comes to standing up for those most in need, whether it be the atrocities of a puppy mill or her vote to take away healthcare from more than 18,000 Maine families. It is clear that special interests come first for her.

On the other hand you have Deb Simpson who has worked hard on behalf of those without a voice, the most at risk among us. Deb has supported increased regulation and enforcement of puppy mills and kennels, worked hard stop local governments from seizing Mainer’s property and turning it over to big developers, and protected some of the most vulnerable Mainers by keeping guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers.

Listen to the ad here.

Cantankerous CD2 candidate John Frary has an ad running on Bangor-area cable. It's similar to this spot from his website, but cut slightly differently:

Deirdre Fulton at the Portland Phoenix's About Town blog flags a mailer from the Maine GOP which attempts to use Todd Palin to connect with Maine snowmobile enthusiasts.

As you can see, the mailer also attacks Obama for accepting the endorsement of the Sierra Club.

At least this Maine GOP piece is positive. Other mailers from the party have mostly been anti-Obama smears.

It appears that Charlie Summers' closing argument in the CD1 race will be an attack on Pingree's tax policies.

Should make today's debate a bit more interesting. Tune in here at noon to watch live.

Campaigns often object to their opponents' negative ads, and sometimes even try to get them pulled off the air. Last night is the first time I've seen a campaign send their opponent's attack ad to their own email list.

The Collins campaign sent the email to tout her dominance of recent newspaper endorsements, but the piece also attacks an Allen ad for being dishonest, and the most prominent link in the email reads "Click here to listen to the ad." Clicking through allows the recipient to hear an mp3 of an Allen radio ad (hosted on Collins' servers) and read the campaigns rebuttal of one of its points - that the Collins campaign is unfairly criticizing Allen for missing votes due to family emergencies.

Interestingly, that particular attack is only about 12 seconds of the minute-long ad. The rest of the spot is about Collins' support of the Bush economic policies, claims that are not rebutted on that page.

The Collins campaign has posted the controversial ad on congressional effectiveness that's been airing for several days.

Gwen Allen, Tom's daughter, pushes back on the attendance issue in a letter-to-the-editor and a diary on TMB.

www.iwasaluckyone.com is a new website created by the Maine Democratic Party offering a look at Senator Snowe-Mello's record on animal welfare. It may also be the first time an adorable puppy has been used in an attack ad.

I found the site through traffic from an outgoing link to my post on Snowe-Mello's disagreement with the Sun Journal about her actions opposing the rescue effort at a Buxton puppy mill. It's not clear how the party intends to promote the site in District 15.

Robert Fisk, President of Maine Friends of Animals sends along this ad, which the organization is running in the Sun Journal as an independent expenditure (click to enlarge).

The group's involvement is obviously a response to Snowe-Mello's actions during the Buxton puppy mill rescue operation.

Fisk explains MFOA's reasoning for entering the race:

Maine Friends of Animals promotes the humane treatment of animals through education, advocacy and legislation (and politics). We are a 501 c4 which allows us to be more politically engaged. Besides our newspaper ads, MFOA has members and supporters calling and putting up road signs for Rep. Simpson. Two of us handed out Simpson literature at the New Gloucester Fair this past weekend. We encourage members to write letters to the editor. This is our focus race – it elects an animal-friendly Senator and also defeats one of the worst legislators on animal welfare. We have stressed to our members and others that many state Representative and Senate races are won by less than a few hundred votes. We want to do whatever we can get Rep. Simpson elected to also send a message to candidates that there is an organized animal protection voting bloc out there. If others wish to join our efforts contact us at mfoa@maine.rr.com.

The Pro-Casino Campaign has released a new ad attacking CasinosNo! spokesman Dennis Bailey for comments he supposedly made at a "Rising Tides" (I assume they mean A Rising Tide) training seminar.

The ad claims the group has a tape of the event, although only a transcript of the exchange is available on their website and no audio is played during the ad. The ad highlights the following quote from Bailey discussing how his group won the last casino referendum as an example of him admitting to scaring voters:

"Fear always overcomes common sense, always. Casinos talk about millions of dollars a year and then we come along and say there's crime, prostitution, whatever."

I imagine in a few months, at another training seminar, Bailey will be discussing how he won this election by annoying the opposition until they focused their time and energy on him instead of winning the vote.

This ad comes on the heels of a controversy about one of the group's other recent ads.

Chellie Pingree strikes a populist, bipartisan tone in her second ad of the general election.

A civic-minded individual and undecided voter in New Gloucester, who only wants to promote public debate and political tolerance, has erected a giant sign featuring Barack Obama dressed in muslim-like attire.

Update: Apparently some people need to turn up their sarcasm meters a bit.