Parties left out in political advertising

Democrats who are running for office aren’t touting their Democrat pedigrees, the New York Times reports today. Few Democrat incumbents are running on the major legislation they helped pass in the last two years.

If the images of Barack Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi appears in a political TV ad, it’s usually a Republican ad.

Sen. Mark Dayton will ignore the template when he brings VP Joe Biden in for a rally in October, but that may be as much about shaking the DFL money tree as it is getting more votes.

Still, in Dayton’s advertising, as this latest ad shows, the one word missing is: Democrat.

Is it significant? Maybe not. Tom Emmer doesn’t mention a party affiliation in his TV ad, either.

Independence Party candidate Tom Horner is the only candidate to mention the word “Republican” or “Democrat” in his ad. But he doesn’t mention his own party, either.