[ Promoted from the Diaries. Also, I just wanted to note, this is the same party that once used a little girl in an ad that threatened a nuclear apocalypse if Goldwater were to win. -AG ]

Americans For Prosperity is coming under fire for an ad they ran in Louisiana depicting the harmful effects of the Affordable Care Act on the people of Louisiana. It’s an anti-Mary Landrieu ad and AFP is a Koch-backed group, so naturally, the media jumps into outrage mode and looks for flaws in the commercial. And, they found one.

The conservative nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which is backed by the Koch Brothers, released an ad Wednesday attacking Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) over her support for the Affordable Care Act. But as ABC News reported Thursday, the people appearing as Louisianans in the spot are paid actors. In the ad, the actors open their mailboxes while a narrator describes letters from insurance companies saying their family’s plans are no longer available, doctors are no longer in their network and their monthly premium has increased. The Landrieu campaign hit back Thursday against the use of professional actors portraying the state’s residents.

I’m not surprised that the media latched on to that story. I don’t think anyone is, to be honest, but I have to say, they are perhaps clinging a little too hard. Landrieu’s communications guy Andrew Zucker posted several times about it on Twitter, and ThinkProgress even posted a thread on Reddit about it. It’s as though no one has ever used an actor in a campaign before.

Of course, the political spot hits Landrieu where it hurts the most. She’s an incumbent Democrat in a red state and she got $300 million for Louisiana to allow the vote to advance in the Senate. Just this summer, she even said she’d vote for it again if it came up. Then, the rollout actually happened. Her campaign seized on the successes of Obamacare and… ran an ad that said she was trying to get the president to change the law.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your record go?

Obamacare, like many, many other races around the country, is a huge problem for Democrats up for reelection. Landrieu’s seat has long been considered a toss-up now, and there is little they can do to combat it. She is touting a bill she wrote that would “let people keep their insurance,” but it’s a bill that really does nothing at all. Also consider that PPP is now showing her at just one point above her leading Republican candidate, Bill Cassidy, which is a big drop from the 10+ points she had in the past.

Oh, and one other thing here. Mary’s success or failure in 2014 could directly play into the state’s gubernatorial campaign in 2015. If she wins, then her brother, Mitch, will be able to draw upon her resources in his run. If she loses, then he can kiss that race goodbye… Though, it’s not like he won’t be in for an uphill battle, anyway. U.S. Senator David Vitter announced he’ll run, and he has a lot of positive early polling and is a statewide-elected Republican in a red state. Bobby Jindal is term-limited.