Updated at 12:50 p.m. to note that Alexander's piano playing was digitally altered.
NASHVILLE - Democrat Gordon Ball's first TV ad in the general election charges Sen. Lamar Alexander is "out of tune" with Tennesseans and features a piano-playing Alexander pounding out a mangled version of the Tennessee Waltz.
The campaign digitally altered Alexander's piano playing to make it sound as if the Senator is missing notes.
As Alexander, who often plays the piano in political settings, serenely plays on, a narrator slams the two-term incumbent on various votes he's taken as sour notes fly.
"More than ever Lamar Alexander is out of tune with the voters of Tennessee," the narrator says. "He voted for Wall Street bailouts. He's opposed term limits. And while everyday families are struggling, he gives tax breaks to corporations that ship our jobs overseas.
"Tired of the same old song and dance?" the narrator continues as the ad shifts to Ball, accompanied by a change of tune. "Gordon Ball. Real. Honest. In step with the values of Tennessee. If you want to change the way Washington is run, then change the people who are running it."
The 30-second spot is called "Same old Song and Dance," according to Ball's campaign.
In a statement, Ball, a successful Knoxville trial lawyer, says, "Our ad highlights the differences between Lamar and myself since he refuses to debate me on the issues."
Ball pointed to Rule 297 in Alexander's Little Plaid Book, a book he wrote some years back. The rule says "serve two terms and get out."
"I guess he changed his tune on that one too," Ball added.
The ad can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVEVxZLoNkE
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.