Months after the release of the earliest “Johnny Sack” spot, and weeks after the Employee Freedom Action Center launched its state-by-state advertising efforts, today’s New York Times reports on the increased intensity the efforts are causing in various Senate races.

The efforts underway in Maine include this ad:

Per the Times:

“We have a very simple strategy,” said Mike Murphy, media adviser to the group behind the advertisement in Maine and one in Minnesota about the vote on a measure to make it easier to unionize American workplaces. “Let’s make it famous. It is a bad law.”

Once again, the Times’ writers did a finer job accurately and objectively reporting the facts than the Times’ Op-Ed board often does when it expresses its support for the bill. The Employee Freedom Action Center is now running television, radio and print advertising in at least eight states: Maine, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Oregon — as the Times notes, “all states where there are closely watched Senate races.”

Moreover, the Times reports:

Democrats and labor are trying to counter the advertising with Web-based campaigns painting the two groups as proxies for big business, retailers and restaurant operators who want to block workers from unionizing, but no comparable counteradvertising has been initiated.

It appears we should expect nothing less than both sides digging their heels in deeper on their positions as the election campaign season swings into full gear.