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In this moment of hyperpartisanship and political acrimony, it always feels odd when a Republican or Democratic candidate who spends time lambasting the opposing party touts their cross-party friendships.
But what is politics without contradictions?
Across the country, candidates are trying to burnish their bipartisan bona fides with ads that often boil down to: Have you met my friend from across the aisle?
"I usually vote Democrat, but for this one, nah, I'm gonna go for Greg," says Ray, a barber in an ad for Greg Cunningham, the Republican in a competitive House district stretching across Southern New Mexico. "I've been cutting his hair for 30 years."
"I voted for Trump every time he was on the ballot," says Bill, a voter in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, before laying into Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan and endorsing his Democratic opponent Paige Cognetti. "She's different. ... She's an old-school tough gal. So yeah, this three-time Trump voter is voting for Paige Cognetti."
"I'm former Democrat mayor Kathleen Palmer, and I wanna tell you what I know about Bob Brooks," says the one-time mayor of Alburtis, Pennsylvania, in an attack ad for Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
"Take it from this veteran and Trump voter," says a man named Zane in an ad backing Democrat Sam Forstag in Western Montana.
This isn't new in politics. I am sure many of you have watched television long enough to see your fair share of campaign ads voiced by people from the opposing party.
But this trend stands out right now because of the acrimony between the two parties and the hyperpartisanship that has defined our politics over the last decade.
Take this poll from 2022, which found that "growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans."
"Perhaps the most striking change is the extent to which partisans view those in the opposing party as immoral. In 2016, about half of Republicans (47%) and slightly more than a third of Democrats (35%) said those in the other party were a lot or somewhat more immoral than other Americans," reads the Pew Research report. "Today, 72% of Republicans regard Democrats as more immoral, and 63% of Democrats say the same about Republicans."
So if voters hold those views of the opposing party, why are candidates running ads touting that members of that party have backed them?
"You're trying to win over some folks on the other side, but mostly this is a way of telling voters, ‘Look, I'm not a lunatic. I know things are bad right now and that we need to do something different,'" said Greg Krieg, a Democratic strategist. "And we are at the stage, in the end times of the Trump Era, where acknowledging a friend across the aisle feels like rejecting the status quo."
According to Larry Sabato, a longtime political watcher and political scientist at the University of Virginia, the ads are "a waste of money," meant to make candidates and their families feel better about the campaign's cross-party appeal.
"The candidates have won a party nomination, but they think of themselves as beloved by everyone," Sabato said. "They love being loved, and they just despise it when they come across someone who doesn't love them. Every politician I have ever known does this. They want 100 percent [approval]."
There is something to that. These ads, while often traditional attack ads, show candidates trying to tell voters they can't be that bad; just look at this person who is backing them.
Forstag has really leaned into this. Beyond the ad, he has also held "civil discourse" town halls in the district, including one recently with Greg Frazer, a former Republican legislator in Montana.
"Greg and I don't agree on everything, but we agree on the things that matter most," Forstag said of the event.
This trend also reflects the rise of independents, with a recent Pew Research Survey finding that 45 percent of Americans identify that way. But Pew also found that most politically active independents regularly lean toward a party, so bipartisan ads may be a way to reach independents who lean away from your party.
And then there are politicians, like Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R), who have staked their careers on winning cross-party support. In the midst of her toughest reelection yet, Collins recently touted an endorsement from former senator Joe Manchin III (D-West Virginia).
"You lose the Susan Collinses of the Senate, you're losing the soul of the Senate," Manchin said in his endorsement of Collins, who called Manchin a "dear friend."
"I am honored to have his support," she said.
Collins is running in a state that has moved left, so touting a Democrat's endorsement is pretty obvious. And Manchin has said that he would like to come to Maine to campaign for Collins, something I am told the Republican would welcome.
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Previously:
• How Republicans' fortunes at the ballot box are linked to diesel fuel prices
• Dems are running against the One Big Beautiful Bill. What can they do if they win?
• Dems sound the money alarm in a key battleground
• Republican candidates are breaking with Trump on Iran as midterms looms
• Republicans have one clear advantage this November
• The midterms are over. Sort of
• Working-class Americans aren't running for office. It's changing our politics
• Why this popular Dem is running like he is behind
• The divide between Trump and Vance on Iran
• The bipartisan rise of Flock cameras as a political issue
• Are data centers enough to flip a key House race?
• Voters want fighters. But where is the limit?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• For the DNC, no money, more problems