The third district Congressional race is expected to be one of this year’s most competitive elections in Iowa, and both sides have been hitting the airwaves this month. Brad Zaun is offering voters a generic Republican message, while incumbent Leonard Boswell and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have produced negative commercials specifically tailored to Zaun.

Ads, transcripts and more are after the jump.

Not long after Labor Day, Zaun started running some radio and television ads. The Iowa Republican blog posted an mp3 of the opening radio spot, but I haven’t heard any of Zaun’s radio ads yet, so I can’t confirm that this exact version is on the air. Please post a comment or send me an e-mail if you’ve heard this or other radio advertising by Zaun. Here’s my transcript of what The Iowa Republican posted:

I’m Brad Zaun, and I’m running for Congress. I learned good lessons from my parents about hard work and personal responsibility. They taught me to always keep working, even when things get tough. They also taught me not to listen to your critics when you know what you’re doing is right. After 14 years in Washington, Congressman Boswell tells us the nation is headed on the right path? I couldn’t disagree more. When I opened my hardware store in 1988, the unemployment rate was half of what it is today, and our national debt was 80 percent less.

I want a new direction in Washington, one that cuts spending, lowers our taxes and gets Iowans back to work. It won’t be easy, but leadership never is. The choice in this election is clear. We can continue on the Boswell and Pelosi path of higher spending and more government, or we can change course. I’m Brad Zaun, and I approved this message. Together we can get Iowa on the right track. Paid for by Zaun for Congress.

You can’t get more simple than this ad. No background music or sound effects, and the candidate does all the talking. Aside from the reference to Zaun’s former hardware store, this script could have been read by any Republican running in any House district. Zaun’s advertising during the Republican primary was vague too (see here and here).

I don’t know whether this radio spot captures the listener’s attention, but it’s smart for Zaun to keep his message simple: the country is on the wrong track, and I support a new direction.

Zaun’s first television commercial of the general election campaign is similar to the radio ad, with the candidate doing all the talking:

My transcript:

Zaun [standing in front of big hardware display]: Hi, I’m Brad Zaun. I’m running for Congress because it seems like Washington, DC is out of touch.

[screen shows Des Moines Register article with headline, “Boswell says nation heading on right path”] Leonard Boswell claims the country is on the right path. I couldn’t disagree more.

[Zaun back on screen] This November we have a clear choice in the third Congressional district.

[View shifts to photo of Boswell standing behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; captions MORE SPENDING, BIG GOVERNMENT, MORE DEBT] The Boswell-Pelosi path leads to more spending, bigger government, and more debt.

[view shifts to different photo of Boswell with Pelosi, and quotation “The most fiscally irresponsible U.S. government in history” from U.S. News and World Report, August 26, 2010] If you think government is too big and costs too much, I need your vote.

[back to Zaun speaking to the camera, with hardware display as backdrop] I’m Brad Zaun, and I approved this message, because together we can get our country on the right track.

To put it mildly, this isn’t a polished commercial. One experienced Democratic campaign hand joked that Zaun comes across as a candidate for student council. It’s also weird how Zaun says “right tract” instead of “right track” at the end.

I’m not convinced that linking Boswell to Pelosi is the winning ticket for Republicans. The same GOP strategy failed in this year’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district. That district is more conservative than IA-03.

On the plus side for Zaun, his message is easy to grasp. Most people agree that the country is on the wrong track. Highlighting Boswell’s comment about the “right path” makes the incumbent seem out of touch. A lot of generic Republican candidates are going to beat House incumbents this year, so perhaps Zaun doesn’t need to say more than “I’ll do something different.”

Zaun’s ad buy was relatively small, according to the Under the Golden Dome Blog:

Here is a break down of the numbers:

Zaun – Radio

September 8-17

$11,506

Boswell – Radio

Mid-August to Mid-September

$105,000

Zaun – TV

September 14-26

$15,150 (235 GRPs)

No cable

Boswell – TV

September 13-26

$145,000 (1600 GRPs)

160 Cable spots

Under the Golden Dome inferred from this spending disparity that “Brad Zaun’s campaign is out of money.” Not necessarily–he could be saving most of his cash for ads in October. Still, it’s a safe bet that Boswell will continue to outspend Zaun from here on out. Boswell had a huge cash on hand advantage in the summer. The A-list Republican fundraisers have not focused on this race. When John Boehner was in Des Moines recently, he did only a breakfast event for Zaun, with little publicity. Dick Morris headlined a Zaun fundraiser this week, but the amount raised wasn’t reported. (Your unintentional comedy of the week is Craig Robinson’s rave review of how Morris “captivated the audience” at that event.)

While Zaun tries to make this race a referendum on whether the country’s on the right track, Boswell–like endangered Democrats around the country–is trying to make the race about his opponent’s shortcomings. Beginning in mid-August, Boswell ran radio ads in heavy rotation highlighting Zaun’s opposition to biofuels subsidies. On September 13, the Iowa Democratic Party started running a similar television commercial, authorized by the Boswell campaign:

My transcript:

I’m Leonard Boswell, and I approved this message.

Male voice-over: What did Brad Zaun say about protecting 29,000 biofuel jobs?

[clip of Zaun speaking at the Tea Party debate in Des Moines on May 16]: A farmer said to me, “What are you going to do for me and the biofuels industry?” And I said, “Nothing.”

Voice-over: Zaun said he’d do nothing.

Zaun clip: “Nothing.”

Voice-over: But the same Brad Zaun who wouldn’t protect 29,000 Iowa jobs supports tax breaks for big corporations who ship our manufacturing jobs overseas. [sources given are Washington Post, 8/5/10, Des Moines Register, 8/10/10] Brad Zaun: no on Iowa jobs today, yes on overseas jobs for tomorrow.

A lot of Democrats are using this outsourcing tax break issue in their campaign commercials. It would be more effective if the Democratic-controlled Congress had accomplished something on this front.

This commercial isn’t badly done, and emphasizing biofuels could help Boswell outperform the top of the Democratic ticket in the rural parts of this district. Boswell will need more arguments against Zaun to win over the two-thirds of IA-03 voters who live in Polk County.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently reported $71,000 in spending on media production and an ad buy for IA-03. The DCCC’s first commercial here hit Iowa television screens this week:

My transcript:

Male voice-over, footage from 2008 Iowa floods: When the flood waters rose, Iowans came together, and when they receded, we worked hard to rebuild. But on flood emergencies, Zaun said Iowans forgot personal responsibility.

Zaun would have denied over 4,000 Iowans emergency flood assistance.

Footage of Zaun remarks from 3/26/2010: “What has been forgotten is personal responsibility.” “personal responsibility”

Voice-over: Iowans needed a hand. Brad Zaun gave us a lecture. [on screen: “Brad Zaun Wrong for Iowa”] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

The Zaun campaign immediately complained:

“The answer used by the DCCC  was in response to a question about Wall Street bailouts, and the Wall Street reform legislation pending before Congress. Congressman Boswell thinks big banks and Wall Street firms are ‘too big to fail.’ Brad Zaun disagrees, and thinks those that caused our economic meltdown should have taken more responsibility for their actions. The DCCC is attempting to bail out Boswell, and is using these quotes completely out of context.”

Bleeding Heartland covered this ground when Boswell’s campaign first highlighted Zaun’s record on flood relief. Here’s the context surrounding Zaun’s comment on floods and personal responsibility:

   QUESTION: Mr. Zaun, it appears the overhaul of financial regulations is the next priority for congress. Some of the legislation proposed would create an agency to regulate mortgages and credit cards, would create a council to the tech and avert serious risks to the financial system, and would expand oversight of the federal reserve over the largest and most interconnected financial companies. Do you agree that this is a priority and briefly could you tell me what should or should not be in this bill?

   ZAUN: Well first of all we gotta audit the Federal Reserve I mean I think that would be the first priority that we would need to do. In regards to what needs in the legislation that you’re talking about some of the banking reform ya know I’m a market driven person and I’m sick and tired of government coming out and telling everyone how to run their business. The fact of the matter is, is what has been forgotten is personal responsibility. We lost that as a country, we expect when there’s a flood or something that’s going on, the government to come in and help us. What we did when we started this country, is neighbors helped each other, we had churches and organizations that helped each other out, there is no doubt about it that there needs to be some changes with our banking system, but its not with more government red tape and I would not support that current bill that you’re talking about.”

Really dumb for Zaun to throw an irrelevant comment about floods into an answer on financial reform. If he otherwise had a solid record on flood assistance, I would agree with him that it’s unfair to hold his offhand remark about “personal responsibility” against him.

The problem for Zaun is that he can’t point to a record of supporting government flood relief. He voted against the I-JOBS bonding program, which funded many flood recovery projects and leveraged hundreds of millions of federal dollars to rebuild this state. Like every other Iowa Senate Republican, Zaun failed to explain his vision of the government’s role in flood recovery, or how he would pay for that.

Getting back to the DCCC’s attack ad, I don’t think the it gives the viewer enough information about Zaun’s record on flood relief. The problem isn’t that Zaun lectured Iowans, it’s that his vote wasn’t there when Iowans needed government assistance after the worst flooding in our state’s history.

Yesterday Boswell’s campaign rolled out a 30-second spot attacking Zaun from a different angle:

My transcript:

I’m Leonard Boswell, and I approved this message.

Clip of Brad Zaun speaking at Benton County debate, April 27, 2010: “We’ve got to get back to personal responsibility.” [Zaun’s words also shown on screen]

Male voice-over: Oh really, Brad? [screen shows, “Reponsibility?”] The court ordered you to pay your unpaid bills [screen shows “Brad Zaun unpaid bills” in large print, sources given are Des Moines Register, 8/19/10, Polk Co Clerk of Court, 5/02/05], threatened you with foreclosure for failed payments–twice. [screen shows Zaun wiping his brow over words “Brad Zaun threatened with foreclosure twice” in large print; sources given are Des Moines Register, 8/19/10, Polk Co Clerk of Court, 1/18/06 and 7/09/01]

And even a federal lien filed against you, Brad, for thousands in unpaid taxes. [screen shows Zaun’s picture below words “Brad Zaun: lien for unpaid taxes”; source given is Polk County Recorder, 7/21/09]

Clip of Zaun plays again: “We’ve got to get back to personal responsibility.”

Voice-over: Brad Zaun: unpaid bills, tax liens. [words Brad Zaun, unpaid bills, tax liens” appear on screen]

Clip of Zaun: “personal responsibility”

Voice-over: And now he’s running for Congress? [words “Brad Zaun fit for Congress?” appear on screen

This commercial does not sit well with me at all. It’s fair to bring up Zaun’s financial problems, especially the way he ignored a court judgment for years, finally paying up right before he filed to run for Congress. That suggests Zaun wasn’t unable to pay his bills, just unwilling to do so without a political incentive.

But I don’t like the way Boswell’s ad suggests that someone who’s had trouble paying bills is unfit for Congress. Facing the threat of foreclosure shouldn’t disqualify a person from public service. Congress is too stacked with wealthy people already. Along these lines, Glenn Greenwald wrote a good piece last week on misguided criticism of Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell.

Zaun has said many Iowans in the third district can relate to his money problems, and that’s probably true. Where Zaun goes wrong is his follow-up statement: “I never waited for the government to come in and help me out. It wasn’t their responsibility and it’s not any of your responsibility.”

During a severe recession, when unemployment and foreclosures reached their highest level in decades, the government should help people who are struggling. Boswell has voted to extend unemployment benefits, increase Medicaid funding and support education and public safety jobs. Zaun dismisses all of that as useless “big government” spending.

Boswell voted for a 2009 credit card reform bill, which put some limits on abusive practices by lenders. He voted for the 2010 financial reform, which created a consumer protection agency that will oversee mortgage and payday lending, among other things. Both of those bills should have gone further but at least did something to address practices that have trapped millions of Americans in debt. Having experienced personal financial hardship, Zaun should support consumer protections in this area, but no, he sticks to the boilerplate Republican message against any new regulation.

If Boswell wants to make Zaun’s finances an issue, he should have made an ad comparing what he has done to help Iowans through tough times with how Zaun has nothing to offer struggling Iowans but a lecture on personal responsibility.

I haven’t seen any internal polling conducted by Boswell or the DCCC. The attack ads suggest that Zaun is within striking distance or possibly ahead; if Boswell were leading he would be running mostly positive commercials. Zaun’s probably not ahead by much, though, or the DCCC wouldn’t bother spending money here.

The National Republican Congressional Committee still has not reserved any advertising time in IA-03. To date Zaun hasn’t gotten much help from outside groups either. American Future Fund Action is spending millions on Congressional races around the country, but so far its only Democratic target in Iowa is Bruce Braley in the first district. Key people involved with the American Future Fund backed Jim Gibbons in the IA-03 race. Zaun beat Gibbons easily in June despite being outspent during the primary campaign.

Share any thoughts about the IA-03 race in this thread.

UPDATE: Civic Skinny reported a few weeks ago that Zaun used to display customers’ bounced checks in his Urbandale hardware store, near the cash register. He didn’t block out names and addresses of the people who wrote the bounced checks.