Weigel

Via Jim Antle, I see that Sen. Rand Paul's PAC (did you know he had one?) is running 60-second ads against possibly vulnerable Democratic senators. This one attacks Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who's fallen off the GOP's target list after a compromise-tastic first two years. (In 2010, he solidly won the seat opened up by the death of Robert Byrd.)

This ad jibes with the positions of John Raese, the perennial candidate challenging Manchin. "The fact that we send these countries $4 billion in foreign aid, that's where I'd start cutting," Raese said in a debate this month. Paul's other target is Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, another Democrat who's built a strong lead against a weak Republican, Connie Mack IV. These aren't particularly strategic targets. Paul is likely getting under the skin of Democrats who'll be back in January, for six more years.