Meanwhile, the Democrats launched the first of a week’s worth of critical TV ads on Sunday, beginning with an attack on Dick Cheney, before going after George W. Bush’s record as governor of Texas. Democrats chose the week of the Republican National Convention for their first negative ads of the general election, trying to counter the positive storyline that Bush and the GOP will project. It’s an early start to what many expect will be a hard-fought contest, and the ads are costing $3.5 million over the next week, as their targeted to seventeen battleground states that are considered toss-ups right now.