Indiana Senate race invests big dollars into attack ads

Fort Wayne, Ind. (WANE) - Politics is proving to be an expensive sport.

"You can spend a lot on television commercials in a pretty short period of time," said Andrew Downs of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.

Monday Republican Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock's campaign released an ad called "Direction" that cost $300,000 to run for one week on statewide cable stations. But, Mourdock's campaign officials said that is not unusual at this stage in the game.

"This is a very aggressive buy, but it's also typical in the last few weeks for us," said Brose McVey, the Deputy Campaign Manager for Richard Mourdock.

Mourdock's campaign has released around half a dozen campaign ads so far. Each, they say, cost around the same as "Direction," and they hope to air three or four more before the election.

The new ad against Democratic Representative Joe Donnelly shows two cars taking different roads one labeled conservative the other liberal.

"We want to start contrasting those and make sure the voters can look through all the fog and get to know these two candidates very well in the next four to five weeks," McVey said. 

NewsChannel 15's Eryn Rogers tried to contact the Donnelly campaign to get reaction to the ad, but no one responded.

Political campaigns are allowed to buy airtime at the lowest cost possible, and that can cost around $50,000 in one city alone. "Direction" is running statewide in major television markets like Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Evansville, and South Bend.

"It's an interesting time to be thinking about the amount of money to spend," Downs said. "If you are looking to have that maximum exposure at this point in time, what you have to worry about is being able to carry this level of exposure through the end of the campaign."

Even though the Mourdock campaign said spending this much for airtime is typical, some wonder if it's a move of desperation.

"This is not a desperation move by any stretch of the imagination," Downs said. "If the campaign happens to have $300,000 to spend on television at this time, they should spend it on television right now. They don't want to get to the day after Election Day and have money left over that could've been spent on the campaign and lose."

With the race being as tight as it is, the Mourdock campaign says spending resources on television ads is an important aspect in relaying their message.

"It's really critical that voters in the Fort Wayne area know that this election for Senate in Indiana may determine who controls the Senate, and therefore, may have a huge impact on the future of our nation in the coming years," McVey said.

The last day to register to vote is Tuesday, October 9th.