Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) campaign released a new TV ad on Thursday seeking to portray Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) as “not cool” and out of touch on the issues important to young Louisiana voters.
{mosads}The ad shows Cassidy in a Google Hangout addressing viewers as “man” and making self-deprecating jokes about his gray hair.
“Here’s Bill Cassidy trying to sound cool online talking about the economy,” the narrator says.
“Man, you can see I got gray hair,” Cassidy says. “So I can ease on out.”
The ad highlights Cassidy’s opposition to raising the minimum wage and enforcing equal pay measures for women, and says he wanted to “close Louisiana colleges and turn them into prisons.”
“I’ll say one more thing, man, and it’s pretty cool,” Cassidy says.
“No, not cool,” the narrator says.
The Landrieu campaign has sought to portray Cassidy as socially awkward in the past. An ad released earlier this month showed him stumbling over a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference and called him “nearly incoherent.”
Polls show Landrieu trailing Cassidy badly in their Dec. 6 Senate runoff.
With the Keystone pipeline setback behind her, Landrieu has returned her focus to the campaign trail. She’ll need to turn out the young, liberal voters that didn’t show up for Democrats on Election Day when Republicans gained control of the Senate.
On Saturday, Democratic leaders from Louisiana and some members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J), will headline events across the state aimed at turning out early Democratic voters. In addition, musician Stevie Wonder will headline a fundraiser for her on Dec. 1 in New Orleans.
But Cassidy has the clear advantage now.
Major figures in the Republican Party have consistently shown up for Cassidy at unity rallies across the state. Former Floriday Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) will participate in events in the near future. He also has a big spending advantage over Landrieu, who has been effectively drowned out on the airwaves.