As Election Day fast approaches vulnerable Republican incumbents have picked up some valuable endorsements, from their wives. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the wives of Curt Weldon, Don Sherwood, and Rick Santorum have all cut ads or penned handwritten letters touting the softer side of their scandal plagued husbands. In one ad Mary Weldon opines that she’s been “forced to speak out” about the “endless, unfounded attacks on Curt and our family.” In a particularly maudlin moment, Karen Santorum appears on the verge of tears as she tells us how it’s “extremely hard, emotionally” to hear attacks on her husband and family, and criticizes Bob Casey for “going after my family.” In Ohio, Mike DeWine’s wife Fran also stars in a new ad highlighting their 39 year marriage and family life. After weeks of running scorched earth attack ads, and still trailing in the polls, these men seem to think that soft and warm might work where slash and burn has failed.

Update: Also stepping into the spotlight is Jim Webb’s wife, Hong Le, who made an appearance at a “Women Choose Webb” rally to defend her husband from charges that he is insensitive to women and answer the recent attacks on the content of his novels. In an interview with The Washington Post, she says, “"It's despicable…These novels have been out forever and were released to high acclaim” and echoing the laments of other Washington wives said, “"It's been a fairly difficult year personally for me…we were unprepared for what the process was going to be like.”