McConnell tries humor and an old hit in new ad

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), fighting for re-elction in a tight contest, is up with a new humorous ad in the Louisville television market that echoes the famous “Bloodhounds” ad that helped first elect him to the Senate.

The spot entitled “Commercials” is a montage of public relations professionals urging the senator to embrace whacky ideas to break through to voters.

{mosads}“You know a lot of people tell me how to do my commercials,” McConnell, dressed casually in a light blue work shirt and navy blue blazer, says to the camera.

It cuts to a team of corporate PR types urging McConnell to stand in between two trucks, then flips to a gag image of his face superimposed on a daredevil standing astride two golden semis roaring down a highway.

“That sounds dangerous,” McConnell deadpans to the camera.

Another guru suggests an ad with a talking baby, which McConnell reviews skeptically on an iPad-type device.

The next scene features McConnell’s longtime ad associate Larry McCarthy — who bears a striking resemblance to director Steven Spielberg — pitching an ad with bloodhounds.

“That’s not going to work,” McConnell says again to the camera.

The ad culminates with a narrator intoning, “Maybe it’s enough to say ‘Mitch fights for Kentucky,’” over a picture of him standing in a Capitol Hill hallway.

The final scene is of McConnell sitting on a stool surrounded by bloodhounds.

“Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea. I’m Mitch McConnell and I approve this message,” he says, laughing.

The ad, which will launch in the Louisville market Tuesday, is an attempt to soften McConnell’s image and present him as more down to earth. It is a six-figure buy, according to a source familiar with its details.

It harkens back to McConnell’s famous 1984 ad starring a group of bloodhounds in hot pursuit of the incumbent Democratic senator, Walter “Dee” Huddleston (D-Ky.).

McCarthy is seen in that ad lounging poolside in Los Angeles directing the bloodhound team in Huddelston’s direction. 

According to polls, McConnell holds a slight lead over his Democrat rival Alison Lundergan Grimes with a week until Election Day.