BOWLING GREEN, OH —On the airwaves in Ohio, brought to you by the party that reminds you at every turn how deeply concerned it is about corporatism:

While furrowing their brows over how involvement by corporations is hastening the fall of our election system, Democrats bring you a Senate ad that’s even more cloying and obvious than those clumsy product placements in primetime shows where your leads are engaging in witty banter with mild sexual tension until the dashboard inexplicably dings and the male lead points out how the new computerized console lets you know when you’re following too closely and the female lead nods approvingly before shifting back to banter and expository case details.

Brown released the ad some time ago, but I hadn’t seen it until I got on the ground here. If only Josh Mandel had had $60 billion in other people’s money to throw at a iconic American corporation. And, oops, the wheels aren’t made in Ohio.

A good read from Tim Carney is worth reprising here, now that all over the country, corporatism dressed up for Halloween as populism.

Mandel, the state’s treasurer, has a new ad out in the closing days of the election: “Integrity”

The RCP average puts Brown up five.