OK, so that's the level we're at now--someone deserves a vote because he can afford to buy commercial time? Did McBride have the money to spend?
I vote on the candidate's issues. I don't vote because one of his underlings spent money other people earned and donated.
I vote on issues AND winnability. Thus I went with Collins.
One of the most motivated politicians that I remember from childhood here in Florida was a guy named Chuck Hall. He held a bunch of local offices (although he lost his congressional race). Anyway, Hall was EVERYWHERE. For example, I remember when my dad took me to see a local boxing match and there was Chuck Hall mingling with the audience, including my father with whom he chatted up for several minutes. Then following each boxing match, Hall made sure to hand out a few bucks to both the boxers. I still remember Chuck Hall at a whole bunch of events with his thick crop of slicked back hair. He looked like a well groomed gentleman but he wasn't shy about mingling with the herd. So guess who my father voted for in all elections but one that Hall ran in? Oh, and the one time my father didn't vote for Hall, he felt like crap afterwards. Years later, when Chuck Hall died, my father mourned him and said he still felt terrible that he failed to vote for Hall that one time.