Campaigning the Bayh Way

"The time that campaigns actually go up on the air is getting much farther out," he said. "We had over two dozen campaigns that actually had ads up in 2005."

The top issues discussed in ads have been the high cost of energy, Social Security, prescription drug benefits and the war in Iraq, Tracey said.

Some of the most expensive House and Senate races -- as measured by TV advertising -- have been in California and Tennessee. The company said $20 million was spent on television advertising in the special election to replace former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham in California's 50th District. The three Republicans vying to take on Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. in Tennessee's Senate race spent more than $5 million in their primary.

Blogging for Forgiveness

The favored Republican candidate to challenge Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) this fall has made a series of startling confessions.

Mike McGavick, the former top executive at insurance company Safeco, divulged last week a 1993 drunken driving incident and discussed a divorce, details about layoffs at his company and a dubious campaign move in 1988.

The comments came in his Web log in an "Open Letter From Mike" and in an interview with the Associated Press.

Citing political attacks on him, McGavick wrote in his blog, "how about I just tell you directly the very worst and most embarrassing things in my life for you to know, and then I will get back to talking about how much the U.S. Senate needs a new direction."

He discussed "two great failures": his first marriage ending in divorce and leaving his son with a "part-time" father, and a 1993 citation for driving under the influence.

He said he had been driving home from several parties and should not have gotten behind the wheel. While there was no accident, "it still haunts me that I put other people at risk by driving while impaired."

Then, he moved to his professional life, citing an unfair ad he ran while he was serving on the campaign staff of former senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) and an unfair message he sent to employees before a round of layoffs at Safeco.

"I do apologize for my mistakes and shortcomings," McGavick wrote.