Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan will begin airing ads tomorrow in Wisconsin for his reelection to Congress, even as he works to elect himself a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Ryan's congressional campaign spokesman Kevin Seifert confirmed the ad buy, first reported by the Associated Press, saying they will run in the Milwaukee and Madison TV media markets between tomorrow and election day.
"The first television ad of the cycle from Ryan for Congress will begin airing tomorrow in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District," Seifert said. "It focuses on the critical choice before voters this November and the importance of electing leaders who are capable of advancing solutions that get America back on track."
VP candidates running for their old jobs at the same time is hardly unprecedented: Joe Lieberman did it in 2000, angering many Connnecticut Democrats warning that Republican then-Gov. John Rowland would be able to pick his successor. Now-Vice President Joe Biden did the same in 2008.
In their first joint interview, Ryan addressed concerns that he is hedging his bets by running for his old seat, saying in Wisconsin you can't get off the ballot once you've filed.
“I’m already on the ballot," he told CBS News. "You can't even go off the ballot. So I've already filed. Our filing deadline was in June. I'm already on the ballot, so it has nothing to do with that."
Ryan doesn't really need the advertising support to hold onto his seat. According to an internal polling memo, Ryan leads his Democratic opponent Rob Zerban by 25 points — 58%-33%.
But Ryan's ads in the largest and third largest media markets in the state are likely to help the Romney-Ryan ticket as a whole in the prime Republican pick-up.
Joe Biden's 2008 Reelection Ad:
