ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
There's a special election in March in Illinois to fill the congressional seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, who's now White House chief of staff. This is the seat that was held by Dan Rostenskowski, who went to prison for misconduct, and Rod Blagojevich, who went on to become governor, with newsworthy results. We're taking note of the election only because one of the local hopefuls, economics professor Charlie Whelan, has a TV commercial that wins the prize for taking a current figure of speech literally.
(Soundbite of TV ad Mr. Charlie Whelan)
Mr. CHARLIE WHELAN (Democrat, Congressional Candidate, 5th District, Illinois): Underwater. That's where a lot of us are financially, thanks to the Bush administration and greed on Wall Street.
SIEGEL: Whelan is pictured in business attire, submerged. Being underwater on your house is a common way to describe owing more on your mortgage than your property is now worth. This commercial could probably cover tanking and also going down the tubes. Another way to describe that condition is being upside-down. Political commercial producers - take note.