The battle of the Jims continues

DFLer Tarryl Clark has taken the concept of some of her recent web ads prime-time.

A new TV spot released today features a bunch of fellows named Jim, who, the ad touts, "actually live" in the sixth district. That's in contrast to a character named "Jim the Election Guy" who appears in a series of ads from Clark's rival for the U.S. House seat in the sixth district, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Clark's Jims criticize Bachmann by associating her with corporate interests. The ad suggests Bachmann "loves BP," riffing off of Bachmann's ads, which had suggested that Clark loves taxes.

Our PoliGraph team checked out some of those previous ad claims from the Bachmann camp and found some of them exaggerated.

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My story last week on the sixth district's ad war presaged this latest move by Clark. Political science professor Steven Smith had recommended that Clark's attacks on her rival match the humorous tone set in Bachmann's ads.

Smith thought Clark should take her online ads featuring the Jims and put them on the airwaves, which she has now done.

I wonder how long it will be before the campaigns change gears-- and tone-- altogether. Will the future assaults be delivered with a smile and cheerful background music?

UPDATE 2p.m.: Bachmann's campaign says the following about Clark's ad:

Taxin' Tarryl today released a misleading and false advertisement against Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Tarryl Clark has continued to lie about Congresswoman Bachmann who has made it extremely clear, "BP should be liable for every dime." (Interview with John King, CNN, June 16, 2010)

Here's that CNN interview the campaign references.

Here's where some of the original Bachmann quotes come from, where she says BP shouldn't be made into "chumps."