Rep. Mark Critz has put out his first television ad of the general election -- and it's a soft biographical spot, as opposed to the (dubious) Social Security attacks on Republican Tim Burns that are sure to come. Critz describes a time in his life when he was struggling to get by and he had to get jobs through a temp agency (which made me think of Ryan "The Temp" Howard from the Office, above).

Critz says that many of the folks he's met in Congress haven't had a background like that, which he's drawing on to fight the good fight for the middle class.

The obvious joke here is that Burns is looking to make sure Critz's current job -- which he earned in May's special election -- is a temp position. Ba-dum-cha.

This race has been mostly out of the spotlight since the special election, when it essentially turned into a national race. Now with so many competitive contests across the country, the outside money won't be flowing as much into PA-12. As of June 30 -- a lifetime ago, but the most recent numbers we got -- Burns and Critz were neck-and-neck in cash on hand.

Video below, with the full script below the jump.

Script:

Critz to camera:

I’m Mark Critz and there was a time in my life long before I served in Congress when the only jobs I could find were through a temp service.

Sometimes I worked six different jobs a week so my wife and I could pay the bills.

I found that hardly anyone in Congress knows what this is like.

It’s why I’m working for tax breaks for creating full-time jobs and end tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas.

I’m Mark Critz and I approved this message because I’ve never forgotten where I came from.