I must have missed the debut of Perry’s second ad, which aired on the day of the national championship game. The title is “Working for Us.” The message is entirely positive, unlike Hutchison’s ads. I like this ad better than Perry’s first one. (I gave the “Washington is Broken” ad 9 out of 10 on first viewing, but it didn’t wear well. It was too busy and too edgy.) This one is softer. The scene of the realtor putting a “sold” sign in the ground is particularly effective. I give it 8 out of 10, with a deduction for Perry’s claim to have vetoed $3 billion in spending. The Morning News has shown that most of the spending cuts were items that were contingent on bills becoming law, which did not occur. The main thing about the ad is that it is positive and engaging. Hutchison’s anti-toll road ad was low-intensity and entirely negative (6 out of 10), except for the horn that honked the first bars of “The Eyes of Texas” at the end. The decision by the Hutchison campaign to attack Perry from day one was a mistake. Her strength was her positive, upbeat personality, which she abandoned to go after Perry. I expect that Perry’s positive ads will shift to negative as the campaign nears the start of early voting.