Joseph Gerth

The National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund probably didn't do Sen. Mitch McConnell any favors with their recent mailing on his behalf.

The 8.5 x 11 inch glossy mailer that hit doorsteps recently paints the Senate minority leader in an oh-not-so-good light, if you don't read the smaller letters.

In large letters, you see "Mitch McConnell."

Below that, a sign with even larger letters: "FOR SALE."

It actually looks more like a Gil Fulbright ad than a pro-McConnell mail piece.

Now, i don't make ads for a living but if I did, I don't think I'd have made that one if I was trying to help McConnell to another term.

See, the problem is that McConnell's foes have been trying to paint him as relentlessly in pursuit of the almighty campaign dollar.

He's the most active opponent of campaign finance reform in Congress, often filing briefs in support of lawsuits challenging existing finance laws.

He's also a voracious fundraiser who has hauled in more than $28 million in this election cycle alone and has been helped by tens of millions of dollars in dark money and other outside spending made possible by successful challenges to campaign finance laws and by McConnell's opposition to new laws.

Only if you look at the smaller type do can you see that it's not an attack ad. "Under McConnell's name it says, "Strengthening Our Economy ..."

Now the problem of course is that the mailer seems to underscore what Alison Lundergan Grimes and her supporters have been saying throughout the campaign, that McConnell is "For Sale" to special interests groups and fat cat donors like the billionaire Koch Brothers.

The ad says "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee." No truer words were ever spoken.