UPDATE:With just 3 1/2 weeks to go before the election (and absentee voting taking place right now), the Attorney General candidates are now finally spending some money on television.

On Wednesday, Republican Pam Bondi began the TV aspect of her campaign(which you can access by clicking here), and today, Democrat Dan Gelber followed suit.

Youtube video

Brett Doster, a consultant to Bondi's campaign, blasted Gelber late Friday, saying,

"Dan Gelber's first television ad is a disappointing distortion of the truth and in keeping with a career politician's 'win at all costs' attitude.

"He talks about corruption but has no problem corrupting the truth. He made an allegation that wasn’t true and offered no evidence, because there is none.

"For 18 years, Pam Bondi has been a prosecutor putting dangerous criminals behind bars. She is a political outsider who is running to change the system in Tallahassee. Dan Gelber is the system, and real Floridians are smart enough to know the difference.

"This is why Pam Bondi has received the endorsements of sheriffs, law enforcement, consumer organizations, and job-creators across Florida who believe in her message of protecting Floridians and reforming government."

Meanwhile, A Mason-Dixon poll released two weeks ago showed Bondi with a narrow 38%-34% lead over Gelber.  Name and face recognition plays a big part in that, as Bondi has been a regular on various cable news networks, particularly Fox over the years.  The poll found that she had a 49%-36% lead over Gelber when it came to name recognition.

This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2010.