Surveillance Attack Ad Deja Vu

Yesterday I reported on a 501c4′s attack ad targeting Democratic members of Congress over warrantless surveillance. But here’s something strange: the ad is very similar — in graphics, tone, structure and music — to one run by then-incumbent Connecticut Representative Nancy Johnson in 2006 against her ultimately-victorious challenger, Chris Murphy.

Here’s the ad run by the 501c4, Defense of Democracies:

And here’s Johnson’s 2006 ad against Murphy:

Sure enough, Murphy is one of the congressmen targeted by Defense of Democracies. Johnson’s 2006 ad said she paid for it, while the Defense of Democracies’ 2008 ad says the organization paid for theirs. More on this later.