youtube.com/watch?v=TUu4r2jHmns

Rep. John Tierney (D) will launch his first television ad of the election season Wednesday. It attacks his Republican opponent, former state Sen. Richard Tisei, for being “too extreme.”

“The tea party Republican agenda: outlaw abortion, restrict birth control, billionaire tax cuts, middle-class tax hikes,” a female narrator says over spooky music and desaturated slow-motion images of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

“And Richard Tisei?” the narrator continues over unflattering slow-motion video of Tisei. “He calls the tea party ‘a godsend’ to Republicans; defends extreme anti-choice Republican views, saying, ‘It is what it is.’ Republicans plan to gut Medicare? Tisei calls it ‘a good starting point.’

“Tea party Republicans and Richard Tisei: What it is is too extreme,” the narrator says.

Tisei’s campaign immediately hit back.

“We didn’t realize that Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin were on the ballot. Last time we checked, they aren’t,” Tisei campaign Manager Paul Moore said in a statement to Roll Call. “Richard is a pro-choice, live-and-let-live independent Republican who has a 26 year record of independent leadership on Beacon Hill. He’s a problem-solver, not a name-caller like John Tierney.

“Richard is confident that John Tierney’s slime isn’t selling this year,” Moore added.

The ad is backed by about $525,000 on Boston broadcast stations beginning Wednesday and running through Sept. 23. The spot is paid for by the Tierney campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Tisei has already been up on TV with ads introducing himself to the district. As Roll Call reported last week, a GOP-aligned super PAC has begun running a scathing attack ad against Tierney.

Roll Call rates the race as a Tossup.