Top party strategists may hate seeing one of their candidates gutted by a brutal ad. But they can still admire the hit.Why it matters: A record $11.6 billion has plastered political ads across screens of every size in the country during the 2026 midterms. Only a handful of those earned the grudging respect of operatives on both sides.📺 Zoom in: Multiple Republican strategists singled out the "brutal" series of ads attacking Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kans.)