GOP Takes Out Big Loan For Home Stretch
The RNC has taken out a $5 million loan in the home stretch of the campaign to give to the NRSC and Senate candidates, joining other party committees that have made the same decision in order to maximize gains -- or in this case, minimize losses -- on Election Day. The party's big challenge will be to avoid a nine-seat loss that would give the Dems a filibuster-proof majority, but even a Dem majority that came close to that would be highly damaging for the GOP.

Right-Wing Celebrities (Sort Of) To Minnesota: We Apologize For Franken
The new NRSC ad against Al Franken features a rather novel gimmick in their attempt to paint Franken as an untouchable Hollywood celebrity. In this ad, right-wing Hollywood B-listers apologize to Minnesota for the way Franken has given their profession a bad name:

Was Dennis Miller not available? In all seriousness, Franken has by now overcome some of the problems from his goofy comedy image that dogged his campaign for quite a while. If the GOP is to defeat him now that he's taken a narrow lead in most polls, they'll need to win Minnesotans over on substantive issues. Oh, wait a minute...

Here's tonight's run-down on the Congressional races:

Poll: Chambliss Still Below 50%
A new InsiderAdvantage poll gives Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) a bare lead of 46%-44% over Democratic challenger Jim Martin. It's looking more and more plausible that neither candidate will get over 50% of the vote, thanks to the presence of a Libertarian candidate, and the race would then go to a runoff in December.

NRCC Ad Takes Up The Redistribution Issue
This new NRCC ad against Dem candidate Joe Garcia, who is running in a close race against Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), takes up the McCain campaign's claims that Democratic tax proposals amount to a radical redistribution of wealth:

The ad seems well-attuned to the political attitudes of Miami's older Cuban community, who have a very strong disliking for anything that hints of socialism in even the slightest way. There is also a Spanish version of the ad, available here.

Poll: Robin "Liberals Hate Real Americans" Hayes Five Points Down
A new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) shows House candidate Larry Kissell (D-NC) ahead of Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) by a 51%-46% margin, with a ±2.5% margin of error, in a rematch of Hayes' narrow win in 2006. Hayes is probably best known by now for his declaration at a McCain rally that "liberals hate Real Americans," and his subsequent efforts to deny he ever said it until the recording was put on the Internet.

Poll: Wicker Takes Big Lead In Mississippi
A new Rasmussen poll gives Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) a 54%-43% lead over former Dem Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. This is one of the three Southern long-shots that could get the Democrats to 60 Senate seats -- the other two are Georgia and Kentucky -- but the Dems may need to look elsewhere.

NRSC Ad Asks Blue State Not To Give Dems Total Control
Here's the NRSC's new ad in Oregon, which seems to concede the presidential race and then asks voters to re-elect GOP Sen. Gordon Smith in order to avoid Democratic domination:

"History has taught us that one-party rule in Washington just doesn't work," the announcer says -- and this civics lecture is coming from the party that drove the country into the ground under one-party rule. The other problem here is that Oregon is a Democratic-leaning state that is expected to vote for Barack Obama in a landslide -- meaning that Democratic domination might be a positive message here, if it means anything at all.

NRSC Ad: Landrieu Supports Obama And Welfare -- And Liberals Could Get Total Control
This new NRSC ad in the red state of Louisiana, the only state where Republicans have even a remote chance of a Senate pickup, ties Mary Landrieu to Barack Obama and massive welfare -- and like other ads, seems to imply that the GOP expects Obama to win and they're trying to avoid overwhelming Democratic control:

"Don't give Washington liberals complete control," the announcer says. "Don't give them a blank check."