I wrote on Wednesday that national political groups would likely get involved in the Maine governor's race, especially with paid media.

Later that day, party committees on both sides of the aisle began airing ads in Maine, signaling the start of the season during which out-of-state voice actors tell us what it means to be "Mainers."

The Republican Governors Association has filed an independent expenditure for $38,430 in television production and air time and is running this ad, giving some of LePage's personal history:

The ad from the Democratic Governors Association also focuses on LePage, particularly his support for nuclear power and offshore drilling and superimposes images of cooling towers over Maine hills and an oil rig on the Maine coast:

The subjects of the two ads show that both sides see LePage as the frontrunner and believe that their first task is to define this relative political unknown in the minds of the average voter. The RGA wants to portray him as the embodiment of the American dream and the DGA wants to paint him as the biggest threat to Maine’s natural beauty and resources since the Asian longhorned beetle.

Both ads seem to have been thrown together rather quickly. The RGA piece is rather generic and the DGA ad seems to be trying to do too much at once.

A friend of mine suggested a very similar ad the other day, but instead of a quick Photoshop job and some scare quotes, it would start with home video of a family visiting Acadia National Park, then zoom out to reveal an oil rig off the coast, with the only voiceover being one line about LePage's position. I’m thinking something like this, except substituting MDI for San Francisco and a drilling platform for the Star Destroyer. I think it might have been a bit more effective:

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