A flood of political commercials leave viewers asking 'Where's the air between candidates?'

Another barrage of campaign ads is incoming in the runup to Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District special election.

Donald Carlson, Aaron Regunberg and Sandra Cano are all set to debut a new round of television spots this week, building on the getting-to-know you commercials that have been circulating this summer. And Emily's List is set to provide independent-expenditure air cover for Sabina Matos, according to AdImpact Politics.

If the early ads haven't left much of a mark, expect the messages and visuals to get bolder as primary day nears.

Already, the next round of spots features at least one celebrity – Jane Fonda – and a dramatic narrative about a shooting.

Early ads focus on 'MAGA Republicans' and life histories

What have the early commercials revealed about this crowded and chaotic campaign?

Mostly how the candidates want to be identified by voters.

None – so far – have gone negative.

And no candidate has taken an unconventional or lighthearted approach, nothing like Allan Fung's entertaining ads from a year ago, including a memorable Twin Oaks set piece.

What we can tell from this summer's commercials to date is that the phrase "MAGA Republicans" must be popping in Democratic focus groups, along with support for gun control and abortion rights.

More: The latest from the 1st Congressional District election: Endorsement from Jane Fonda draws fire

Some of the early ads from top-tier candidates share so many common themes that the names and life histories of those running are the only things that set them apart.

Of six early ads made by or in support of Matos, Carlson, Gabe Amo and Cano, gun violence, reproductive rights and the term "MAGA" are mentioned 12 times.

It takes Amo's "Experience" and Carlson's "Who I Am" ads less than 30 seconds each to mention all three.

The phrase "protecting democracy" also comes up a lot in the early commercials.

Regunberg's ads take on a different look

As in many facets of the campaign, Regunberg, seeking the race's progressive lane, takes a somewhat different approach to ads.

Although there is little practical daylight between Regunberg and his fellow Democrats on gun control, abortion and former President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement, his ads focus more on populist economic themes and the battle against corporate power.

Apart from the content, Regunberg's first TV ad is also visually distinctive, with more muted lighting and a more cinéma vérité look featuring lots of handheld video. The ad even includes a superimposed "play" graphic that gives State House rally footage the 1990s vibe of "The Real World" or "The Blair Witch Project."

The ad was made by The Win Company, the agency used by Sen. John Fetterman's campaign.

What do the campaign professionals think?

To go deeper, Political Scene asked a handful of campaign professionals and analysts not affiliated with one of the candidates for their best "Don Draper" take on the early ads. (Given the large field and small state, the number of local politicos without an affinity for, or a beef with, one of the candidates is somewhat limited.)

Brian Jencunas, a Boston-based political consultant who has worked in Washington and on Buddy Cianci's final mayoral campaign in 2014, was struck by the uniformity of the initial round of ads.

"It's crystal clear what issues are testing the highest when the campaigns poll – abortion access, gun control and protecting entitlement programs," he said. "The ads are even the same format; only the camera angles change. The first half is a biography and the second half lists those three issues."

Two ads have stuck out to him so far: Regunberg's introductory ad, and the new mother-daughter ad Cano released on Friday (and airing starting Monday.)

On Regunberg, he said, "The subtext is clear: Send me to Congress and I'll be the newest member of The Squad."

Jencunas said Cano's new "Dear Ari" ad "uses a beautiful, universal frame – a mother’s love for her daughter – to talk about both abortion and the importance of having a female member of Congress. It’s a great example of storytelling emphasizing high salience issues.”

Charles Hunt is a political science professor at Boise State University in Idaho who grew up in Rhode Island and worked in political communications before heading out West.

Hunt said he sees all the appeals to "MAGA Republicans" in so many of the ads as bids to take advantage of "negative partisanship" – the fear of political opponents winning that often produces stronger emotional responses than affirmative messages.

"In this case, all of these candidate are targeting Democratic primary voters – the most die-hard Democrats in the state," he wrote. "So they don't need to worry about sounding moderate or bipartisan, because progressives are the main folks they're targeting."

In the effort to distinguish themselves from the crowd and boost name recognition, Hunt said candidates – Amo and Carlson in particular – are leaning heavily on résumé and born-and-raised hyper-local bona fides, common strategies across the country.

"In this case, these candidates are A): trying to get voters to remember them, and B): offering voters another kind of proof point – that because they, too, are native Rhode Islanders and identify strongly with the area, they'll have voters' best interests at heart when they go to Washington," Hunt wrote. "I think this is particularly important in a state like Rhode Island that's smaller, older, less mobile and more parochial, I think, than many other states."

Former state Democratic Party executive director Cyd McKenna's take on the 1st District messaging was informed by a recent (positive) experience with 2nd District Rep. Seth Magaziner's office getting an emergency replacement passport. "Accessible, accountable and adaptable."

"The ads I watched for CD-1 were lovely, filled with very talented candidates focusing on key Democratic Party platform issues, to the point where if you didn’t know them personally, they’re almost indistinguishable," McKenna wrote. "If I were advising a candidate looking to break away from the pack, I’d go back to the basics of representation: accessibility, accountability and adaptability. For an ad, I’d suggest a personal appeal to the veteran in South Providence, the small business owner in Smithfield, the senior trying to make sense of their benefits in Warren, pledging how said candidate would be an accessible, accountable and adaptable representative for all."

She added: "For many constituents, their representative's work on important party platform issues is a given; how their hyper-local voices and concerns are carried to D.C. is not."

What's next?

In addition to Cano's mother-daughter ad, the Regunberg campaign is launching a series of ads, including spots on housing, health care and the climate change ad featuring Jane Fonda that drew protests from GOP candidate Gerry Leonard. (Who predicted the Vietnam War would be a big issue in this campaign?)

The Regunberg campaign is also set to introduce another traditional broadcast ad and locally targeted cable-digital ads featuring testimonials from Bud Cicilline in Newport, Susan Donovan in Bristol and Reps. Cherie Cruz and Leonela Felix in Pawtucket.

Carlson is debuting a gun-violence ad about a shooting at his daughter's college.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Political analysts break down the RI CD1 special election campaign ads