SD-3 Democratic challenger Brian Foley is out with his first ad, and directly takes on out-of-touch octogenarian incumbent Caesar Trunzo's message that 'you don't fix what's not broken'.

The ad unintentionally highlights one of the central dynamics of this entire election: people are sick and tired of things as they are. Locally, it's property taxes; at the state level, an un-democratic, dysfunctional legislature coupled with a culture of secrecy and legalized bribery of legislators, special-interest groups, and citizens themselves, all while the budget tanks and nobody has a clue what to do about any of this; nationally, with a war we didn't need to fight, with a financial sector in meltdown, with job losses that will top a million before Christmas and, of course, with millions of Americans losing their homes. Trunzo's decision to call for continuity - other republicans, notably New York Senate republicans, are trying to make the same argument - flies in the face of everything that we know about public opinion in this cycle.

The Senate republicans have made a number of bad choices this cycle, recruiting a weak field of candidates and spending millions of dollars to go on offense without moving the needle much, if at all, in their targeted races. Trunzo's stay-the-course messaging - and similar efforts by other members of his conference - may prove to be a similar mistake.

Transcript below the fold.

Voiceover throughout:

It's pretty simple: this year, when you enter the voting booth, you can vote for the way things have been for thirty-six years, or vote for the way things can be. Brian Foley will fight for lower property taxes and clean government. As Brookhaven town supervisor, he eliminated a fifteen million dollar debt, saving taxpayers millions, and banned second-hand smoke to protect our kids.

Now, it's up to you: you can vote for the past, or you can vote for your future. Choose wisely. Brian Foley for State Senate.

On the web: Brian Foley for State Senate