Kinder, gentler political ads

TAMPA - After months of primary trash talk, the candidates are playing nice. The latest round of ads show a friendlier side.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Kendrick Meek is all smiles.

Independent Governor Charlie Crist, in his first TV ad for the general election, takes letters from the words "Democrat" and "Republican" and rearranges them.

And Republican Marco Rubio talks about his family.

But make no mistake: experts say these ads are all carefully crafted strategies.

"I can tell you right now, anybody who runs a nice, positive, cheery, 'I can do this' kind of ad is going to grab people's attention, because they've been inundated for four months with below the belt, kickboxing kind of ads and they are tired of it!" said USF political analyst Susan MacManus.

Instead, candidates are letting others do the dirty work. Independent advocacy groups are still slinging the mud.

Florida's Republican Committee paid for one of the latest negative ads, trying to tie Rick Scott's opponent, Democrat Alex Sink, to the President's policies and his falling approval numbers.

"Ads grab people's attention and television is king in politics. The candidates know this. The consultants know it. And so they're going to do the best at pumping up their candidate and tearing down their opponent," MacManus says.

Experts say don't expect the niceties to last for long. They say the ads are bound to get more negative and with about eight weeks to go -- there's still plenty of time for the general election to get just as ugly as the primary.