The ad looks like any political TV attack ad: Gray, grainy images. Big, bold words that convey negative information. Pictures of scary, rogue international leaders.
The ad, which began airing this week, targets Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. But it doesn’t come from Alsobrooks’ Republican opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan.
Instead, it’s paid for by the John Bolton PAC, the political action committee of John Bolton, former President Donald Trump’s one-time national security adviser, and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under former President George W. Bush.
The 30-second spot has a female narrator and is interspersed with pictures of crime scenes and crime statistics.
“Since Angela Alsobrooks took over, violent crime, homicides, carjackings, property crime,” the narrator says, with graphics showing them rising. “If you live in Prince George’s County, you already know it, or you’re a victim yourself. Alsobrooks’ answer is lies and excuses.”
The images then switch to pictures of foreign leaders: Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, and Ayatollah Sayid Ali Khamenei of Iran.
“If she backs down to local criminals, will she stand up to international threats like these guys?” the narrator asks. “Angela Alsobrooks — too soft, too inexperienced for dangerous times.”
But Alsobrooks was up with a new TV ad of her own this week, reiterating the oft-repeated Democratic talking point that Hogan is, in fact, a Republican.
The 30-second spot doesn’t offer much context, featuring footage of Hogan in several TV interviews from the past few years. It seeks to remind people that while he may be a critic of former President Donald Trump, he is nevertheless a loyal Republican.
The capper: An interview with Axios earlier this year. Asked if he plans to caucus with Republicans if he’s elected to the Senate, Hogan replies, “Of course I am, I’m a lifelong Republican.”
The ad ends with the standard disclaimer from the Democrat: “I’m Angela Alsobrooks, and I approved this message.”
Bolton’s ad buy is part of a more than $1 million investment he is making in the Senate race on Hogan’s behalf, though the PAC and the former governor’s campaign cannot coordinate activities. The PAC said Bolton’s ads are currently being seen on connect television, cable TV, social media, YouTube TV and YouTube, and satellite radio platforms.
Most people probably don’t remember that Bolton, 75, is a native Baltimorean, the son of a firefighter and a homemaker who grew up in the city at the Baltimore County line, near Catonsville. He won a scholarship to the prestigious McDonough School, where he headed a Students for Goldwater chapter during the 1964 presidential election. Later, as a Yale Law School student, he interned with then-Vice President Spiro Agnew, a Marylander.
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