Sometimes a negative political ad can turn into cheap cannon fodder for your opponent.  Such is the case for Republican John Raese, who is attempting to defeat Governor Joe Manchin (D-WV) to take West Virginia's U.S. Senate seat. 

Earlier this month the Republican Party ran an ad in West Virginia featuring three men, dressed in hats and plaid shirts, drinking coffee at a diner.  The men talk about how "Joe" is a good guy, but supposedly he changes to a liberal around President Obama.  The three men conclude that they will vote against "Joe" to keep him in West Virginia.  The ad was actually praised by some politicos when released, but since that time, embarrassing details have emerged on the background of the ad.  The ad actually was filmed in Philadelphia and used out-of-state actors.  Perhaps most damning, the casting call agency asked for "hick, blue-collar type" actors for the ad.  In other words, the Republican Party sought out "hicks" to play West Virginians in a political ad.

In the new ad to the left, Manchin goes after Raese for the ad reference above.  Before the controversy began, Raese already was being criticized for allegedly avoiding West Virginia tax liability by moving his family to Florida.  Manchin's ad criticizes Raese for portraying West Virginians as "hicks" and points to the tax haven story.

No polls have been released since the two ads came out.  The West Virginia race is considered one of the closer contests in the nation.  Governor Manchin is relatively popular in the state, but his Democratic Party association hurts him in a midterm election year when Democrats are in power.  Most polls have the race within the margin-of-error.  See the latest polling data to the left.