Schmidt feeling some heat?

This 2nd Congressional District race wasn't supposed to be much of a contest, with an incumbent Republican running against an inexperienced Democrat who wasn't expected to have two nickels to rub together.

Well, maybe not.

You have to wonder whether Jean Schmidt is hearing footsteps, given what has taken place in the past week.

First, 2nd District voters - mostly Democrats and independents - found a flyer from the National Republican Congressional Committee in their mailboxes, one that goes after Democrat Victoria Wulsin on immigration, claming she wants to hand out $50 billion of taxpayers' money to illegals for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps.

Then comes the first 30-second TV ad from the Schmidt campaign, one that tries to turn Wulsin into a Warner Brothers cartoon character, with funny "boing" noises every time her head pops up in the picture. The message: She wants to raise your taxes.

Last year, when Schmidt was running in the special election for the 2nd District seat, her TV ad campaigns started out with nice, happy ads of Schmidt on the front porch of her home, telling us she's our buddy and our neighbor. The go-for-the-jugular attack ads came later.

This could mean one of three things:
1. Schmidt's worried.
2. The Schmidt campaign wants to define Wulsin for 2nd District voters before she can define herself (Wulsin's TV campaign is unlikely to start for another week or so).
3. Or both of the above.