Let's be honest for a moment — most political ads suck. The positive ones are brain-numbingly boring and the negative ones leave you with a sick feeling of pity and disgust.

Who out there really needs more empty rhetoric about American values or someone else's lack thereof?

The problem is that our passive attachment to the boob tube leaves politicians free to blandly promote themselves with no risk of backlash. We'll sit there, the remote control just out of reach, and watch — indifferent and unimpressed. These ads aren't worrying about wowing us. They're merely taking advantage of a captive audience, and shelling out major cash to do so.

But what if candidates had to make commercials you actually wanted to watch?

Of course, that's exactly what's happening during these midterm elections. In the two years since the presidential election, viral video has blown up, with sites like YouTube.com attracting millions of viewers a day.

While Internet ads still don't carry nearly the weight of their television counterparts, candidates in tight races need to exploit every avenue they can to promote themselves, and several have taken to YouTube.com to court the younger, Web-savvy vote — at a fraction of the cost of TV advertising.

We here at asap spent hours trolling the vast video sea, looking for ads designed specifically for the Web. It was a painful and depressing experience, since most of the spots are just dressed-down TV ads with view counts in the low hundreds at best. (Gee, I wonder why?)

But there were more than a handful of videos designed specifically for the Web — ones that threw out the standard 30-second maudlin montages in favor of humor, quirkiness and over-the-top sensationalism.

We picked a few of these and tossed them over to the expert bloggers at AdFreak (blogs.adweek.com) for inspection. We wanted to know how well politicians were exploiting this new medium. It turns out, most still have a lot to learn.

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"No Decency" by Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic challenger in New York's 20th congressional district. She's running against Republican incumbent John Sweeney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vPaQiaxuon3w

AdFreak's take: "This 2-minute-plus 'Good Night and Good Luck' spot, for Kirsten Gillibrand, is one of the best political ads of the season, or any season. Getting David Strathairn to reprise his Oscar-nominated role as Edward R. Murrow to chastise your opponent about decency — it doesn't get much better than that. Strathairn strikes the perfect note of quiet outrage. No bells or whistles needed; it's a triumph all around."

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"Raj Bhakta's Joe Biden 7/11 Challenge" by Raj Bhakta, a Republican challenger in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. Bhakta, known by many as a former contestant on "The Apprentice," is running against Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v0XUEMUnvWY4

AdFreak's take: "Raj Bhakta tries to have some fun with Joe Biden's controversial comments about Indians, but his ad falls flat. The goofy '7-11 Challenge' (and its convoluted donation scheme) is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but potential supporters may simply laugh it off without opening their wallets. Bhakta is asked to strike a fine balance: delivering a real pitch for money along with a wink and a nod. By the end of the spot, he just seems to want to get off camera."

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"Vernon Robinson for Congress" by Vernon Robinson, a Republican challenger in North Carolina's 13th congressional district. He's running against Democratic incumbent Brad Miller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vbDTr6vHS5l8

AdFreak's take: "You can't accuse Vernon Robinson of being unclear about what he believes. This spot, decrying the 'Twilight Zone' state of present-day America, appeals explicitly to conservative Republicans who may feel betrayed by the GOP. It's gotten plenty of viewers. But its biggest and most grateful audience is probably the left wing, who can mobilize against it. Delivering fuel to the enemy: not the best strategy."

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"Change Washington: David Roth for Congress" by David Roth, a Democratic challenger in California's 45th congressional district. He's running against Republican incumbent Mary Bono.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vVqhJZV5Y0U4

AdFreak's take: "On the Web, unlike TV, your commercials can be long. That doesn't mean they should be long. If you've never seen David Roth before, his short film will give you a good idea of what he looks like, but not much of a compelling reason to vote for him. His media team seems more focused on learning the ins and outs of iMovie than delivering a clear message. And the lyrics on the Polyphonic Spree soundtrack ('You gotta be good/You gotta be strong/You gotta be two thousand places at once') are ambiguous at best."

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"Had enough of Hastert? Vote Laesch!" by Blue America, a federal PAC that made the ad available for Democrats running against Republican incumbents across the country. The ad was written by members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and singer Ricki Lee Jones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vIAkEdWXwRaE

AdFreak's take: "Attack ads never felt so good. This spot delivers a negative message but with enough energy and humor that people will not only tolerate it, they might even e-mail it to their friends. The visuals are too busy (the lyrics at the bottom clash with the on-screen copy), but the music more than makes up for it. A bit too flippant for TV, this ad is tailor-made for the Web."

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Otis Hart is an asap reporter based in New York.

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