Tis the season for disingenuous mailers and ads distorting the records of political opponents and casting aspersions about their characters and love for America. Early voting has begun, and for all the campaigning and massive spending over the last year, this is the point when voters begin to zero in on the election.

What politicos have known for decades is that if a voter is going to be left with a single impression, a negative impression of your opponent is more powerful than a positive one of your candidate. Despite claims from the majority of the public that negative ads are distasteful and don’t work, campaigns would not spend precious resources polling their opponent’s baggage for the purpose of producing thousands of pieces of direct mail and searing broadcast ads if they didn’t work.

In Tennessee’s top races this cycle, the leading candidates have records to exploit, but the most damning slips are the ones perpetrated during their current campaigns. For example, after nearly 30 years in political office, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn has an extensive record to comb through and a series of controversies of which to remind voters. As Executive Director of the Tennessee Film Commission, Blackburn famously overspent and, when questioned about it, burned her receipts and mailed them to her boss, Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Bill Dunavant. As a Congresswoman, Blackburn was named to the list of one of the most corrupt politicians for her mishandling of campaign funds. Then there is legislation she sponsored on behalf of pharmaceutical companies that weakened the Drug Enforcement Agency’s ability to hold manufacturers accountable even though Tennessee was “ground zero” for the opioid epidemic.

Perhaps those issues did not poll well, or Congressman Rose felt the attacks were too harsh. Whatever the reason Rose’s campaign has chosen not to attack her on those and other issues remains unknown. However, Rose has pounded Blackburn on an incident that has become known as the “Marsha Meltdown.” Following a public event at which reporters were promised an opportunity to ask questions, Blackburn’s team abruptly escorted her to the elevator, ignoring questions from the media.

Unfortunately for Blackburn, no one on her staff had called for the elevator in advance, so she was forced to wait for what seemed like hours during which time she was peppered by WTVF veteran reporter Ben Hall. Hall repeatedly asked her why she refused to debate her opponents and why she won’t take questions from the media. In response, Blackburn continued to repeat, “We’re talking to Tennesseans every single day. Every single day.” This refrain became more cringy each time Blackburn repeated it and contorted her countenance with disapproval. This became Rose’s most potent attack ad, thus far.

Not long after, WTVF investigative reporter Phil Williams broke the story of a Senate ethics investigation into whether Blackburn had used her taxpayer-funded Senate staff for campaign purposes. The complaint was not acted on by the Ethics Committee, but Williams wasn’t finished.

Days later, Williams broke the story that there were recordings of Blackburn’s staff complaining about being asked to do campaign work on Senate time. The staffers acknowledged that doing so was a violation of the federal Hatch Act. Rose promptly called on Blackburn to release the correspondence and findings of the ethics probe.

Throughout the campaign, Blackburn has been the clear frontrunner with substantial money other than her own, a statewide grassroots organization, and a loyal base of support. It is hard to see how Rose can overtake her, especially with the unintentional “stalking horse” campaign of State Rep. Monty Fritts.

There is no doubt Rose has significantly closed the gap, though, as evidenced by Blackburn’s attacks against him. Tennessee Freedom Fund, a PAC formed by Club for Growth to back Blackburn, has spent more than $2.4 million on her behalf. It is notable that Blackburn’s federal campaign account recently transferred $4.8 million to the Club for Growth Political Action Committee.

The latest ad attempts to make the case that Rose is a Democrat based on his choice to vote in the Democratic primary more than once during the early 2000s and his company’s Black Lives Matter social media post in 2020. Of course, President Trump was a registered Democrat from 2001-2009 and Ronald Reagan was the Democratic Governor of California.

Details. Details.

Less than two weeks from primary election day, the online surrogates are getting chippy, and we can be sure there will be more revelations and attacks in the waning days. The question is, will those attacks be the result of candidate and campaign gaffes or previously established legislative and public policy records?