The jury’s out on just how seriously Democratic candidate Dan Adler should be taken in the crowded primary to replace departed Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) in California’s 36th district, but the career entertainment executive is drawing plenty of attention for his bizarre — and possibly offensive — ad campaign. 
 
 In his latest ad, Adler hangs out with a multi-ethnic crowd touting his appeal to Asian voters by pointing out that he’s married to a Korean and that — as a Jew — he can understand what it’s like to be a minority. In a weird and seemingly quite patronizing twist, a heavily-accented Korean immigrant woman in a laundromat awkwardly interrupts him throughout the ad, finally asking the camera “What’s a mensch?” The clip is drawing attention from viral video sites. 
 
 It seems clear that Adler, who is backed by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, is going the “Demon Sheep” route, using ads specifically designed to spread online out of shock value or just sheer weirdness. In another out-there spot, former child star Patty Duke declares “Dan Adler: He Gets Shit Done.” 
 
 In a similarly foul-mouthed video, Adler ups the shock factor to 11 by having his own young son deliver the catchphrase. He then proceeds to make a special effects-assisted dunk on a garage basketball hoop that would put Blake Griffin to shame. 
 
 Benjy Sarlin Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun. ||||| Is it a violation of Congressional decorum to call for your former colleagues to be thrown in jail? Newt Gingrich lobbed a bomb early in Tuesday’s Bloomberg/Washington Post debate by telling the audience that he would like to imprison Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), co-authors of last year’s financial reform package. The attack drew a fierce and immediate rebuttal from Frank, who slammed the “self-styled intellectual leader of the free world” for his “very odd” comments. 
 
 “If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd,” Gingrich said in the debate. His remark came after the candidates were asked about the lack of criminal prosecutions of Wall Street officials in the wake of the financial crisis. 
 
 Moderator Charlie Rose offered Gingrich a chance to walk his remarks back, saying he surely didn’t mean they should actually go to jail. But Gingrich stood his ground, saying Dodd should be investigated for his ties to Countrywide Financial and Frank for his ties to Fannie Mae. 
 
 “All I am saying is, everybody in the media who wants to go after the business community ought to start by going after the politicians who were at the heart of the sickness that is weakening this country,” he said. 
 
 Frank said Gingrich’s anger over his and Dodd’s role in the financial meltdown was absurd given that Republicans were in charge of the House and — excerpt for a brief period — Senate, from 1995 to 2007.He noted that he worked on reform legislation on mortgage in his first year as chair in 2007. 
 
 “It’s interesting, the charge is failure to stop Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay from deregulating,” he said. “This notion we caused the problem that started while they were in charge even by Gingrich’s standards is very odd.” 
 
 Added Frank: “I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told DeLay not to go on the dance show.” 
 
 Frank speculated that Gingrich’s comments were borne out of frustration with his campaign. 
 
 “He’s been having a bad year, you know — this self-styled intellectual leader of the free world struggling to stay ahead of Michele Bachmann in the polls is unsettling him so he talks even sillier than he sometimes does,” he said. 
 
 Benjy Sarlin Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun. ||||| The early consensus on the debate among the pundit class: Mitt Romney helped himself a lot with a strong first debate performance, President Obama didn’t. And that included plenty of commentators supportive of Obama as well. 
 
 “It looked like Mitt Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn’t want to be there,” Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville said. He later added Obama did not bring his “A game.” 
 
 Alex Castellanos, a former Romney advisor who has often been critical of his campaign, said he was surprised by his “very effective” performance. 
 
 Many were surprised that Obama appeared reluctant to go on offense, never mentioning many of his own campaign’s attacks on Romney over Bain Capital or his recent leaked remarks dismissing 47 percent of Americas “victims.” In general, commentators suggested he appeared less comfortable than Romney onstage. 
 
 Blogger Andrew Sullivan, a longtime supporter of the president who has written several cover stories for Newsweek defending his record, indicated he was extremely worried about the debate performance. 
 
 “Look: you know how much I love the guy, and you know how much of a high information viewer I am, and I can see the logic of some of Obama’s meandering, weak, professorial arguments,” Sullivan said. “But this was a disaster for the president for the key people he needs to reach, and his effete, wonkish lectures may have jolted a lot of independents into giving Romney a second look.” 
 
 MSNBC host Chris Matthews disapproved as well: “Obama should watch MSNBC. He would learn something every night.” 
 
 Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein suggested that Obama may have helped himself by pinning Romney down on some specifics, for example Romney’s inaccurate claim in the debate that his health care plan would cover Americans with pre-existing conditions. But overall, the damage from the feeding frenzy in the press over the immediate performance would be a problem. 
 
 “Much worse for Obama than the debate is the media’s harsh verdict on his debate performance,” Klein tweeted. 
 
 Several commentators on right and left cautioned that it was unclear how much a consensus Romney win would sway the polls, especially in swing states like Ohio where he’s been persistently behind: 
 
 One big caveat. Romney won, but winning debates doesn’t always mean winning votes.But in a close race, every vote counts — Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) October 4, 2012 
 
 But regardless of what comes next, the overwhelming reaction was unmistakable across party lines: the Obama that dominated the presidential debates in 2008 did not show up. 
 
 Benjy Sarlin Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
– Dan Adler is campaigning for Jane Harman's vacated House seat, and the California Democrat has an odd, possibly offensive reason certain people should vote for him: His wife is Korean! Oh, and he himself is Jewish, and as his odd campaign ad states, "We minorities should stick together." On Talking Points Memo, Benjy Sarlin notes that the most "patronizing" part of the commercial is the "heavily-accented Korean immigrant woman in a laundromat awkwardly [interrupting] him throughout the ad." And in New York, Dan Amira concludes that if Adler "didn't have a Korean wife, this might one of the most racist campaign ads we've ever seen."