Xi Jinping, the vice president and presumptive next president of China, today visits the White House on a four-day tour of the United States. While some hope the trip will help ease tensions between the two nations, China is an increasingly popular boogeyman on the campaign trail here, especially in political attack ads.

You've probably seen the controversial ad that Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra aired in Michigan during the Super Bowl.

The spot cost Hoekstra's campaign $144,000 and helped his opponent Debbie Stabenow raise $150,000 in the week after it ran.

But Hoekstra's ad is hardly alone recently in stoking fears of China.

Mark Amodei of Nevada, running for Congress in a special election last year, cut an ad claiming that raising the debt ceiling so empowers China that to do so is to "risk our independence." A fictional, triumphant Chinese news report shows the People's Liberation Army marching in front of the U.S. Capitol as a joyous choir sings. "It's not too late to stop this nightmare," Amodei says.

In September he won election with 58% of the vote.

And it's not just local campaigns using such tactics. In a number of 2010 commercials, the National Republican Campaign Committee equated support for the stimulus to favoring Chinese interests over American ones. "Staggering debt here, sending jobs to China. Who is he working for?" the narrator intones in ads against Chris Carney and Zack Space.

In a spot funded by the NRCC and approved by candidate Spike Maynard, images of "Made in China" labels flash ominously across the screen before Maynard's opponent Rep. Nick Rahall is accused of voting "to help foreign companies create Chinese jobs making windmills."

Another NRCC ad asks "Is Baron Hill Running for Congress in Indiana, or China?"

Of course, this xenophobic aesthetic is not limited to Republicans. An ad the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee ran against Sen. Pat Toomey in 2010 sounded remarkably similar. "Maybe he ought to run for Senate ... in China," its narrator declares. Lots of Chinese flags accompanied by gong sounds are thrown in for good measure.

In another equally unsubtle DCCC ad against Toomey, "He's not for you. :(" pops out of a fortune cookie.

The Democratic National Committee put out a video in 2010 accusing Karl Rove and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of "stealing our democracy" with "millions from secret donors." "It appears they've even taken secret foreign money to influence our elections. It's incredible!" the narrator cries over an image of Chinese yuan stacking up. No evidence is cited for this claim.

And a 2010 ad from MoveOn.org "connects the dots" from Rep. Mark Kirk to the Chamber of Commerce directly to China, Russia and India. "Exactly who is Mark Kirk working for?" the ad asks, indignant. Just like the NRCC.

The classic of the genre, though, may be from the 501(c)(3) Citizens Against Government Waste. In the widely-viewed 2010 ad, a Chinese professor in a high-tech classroom from the year 2030 explains how America "failed" like other great nations. "Of course, we owned most of their debt ..." he says with a laugh, "so now they work for us."

As of last year, less than 10 percent of U.S. public debt is owed to Chinese investors.

Have you seen any other ads raising the specter of big, bad China? Let us know in the comments.

A roundup of what we're noticing in the Reporting Group as we dig into government data and disclosures:

Dark money: Of the 202 outside organizations spending money to influence the 2010 mid-term elections, just 93 of them have disclosed donors to Federal Election Commission. Some of the organizations may be disclosing donor information to the Internal Revenue Service. Keep checking the Reporting Group website for further details.

Labor tiring? National Republican Congressional Committee has made the most independent expenditures ($34.3 million) followed by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($25 million), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($20.3 million) and two Super PACs -- American Crossroads ($12.8 million) and American Future Fund ($12.1 million). When we started Daily Disclosures on Oct. 5, the top five were the NRCC, the DSCC, Service Employees International Union, DCCC and American Crossroads.

Mistaken identity? Alaskans Standing Together, a Super PAC funded by federal contractors supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in bid to remain in office, lists Lisa Murkowski as the person certifying that the group isn't working with Lisa Murkowski. Details here.

Be sure to check out our Follow the Unlimited Money tool--updated hourly!--to get all the latest info on outside groups.

Bag men: Financial services conglomerate FMR bundled $43,675 in contributions to Finanancial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, D-Mass. Stan Dodge of the Dish Network ($65,900), Philip English of Arent Fox LLP ($22,000), Michael Herson of American Defense International Inc. ($25,000), Bob Wood of BGR Government Affairs ($62,000) and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association PAC ($30,000) all bundled to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Rep. Michele Bachmann discloses that pro-life SBA List Candidate Fund bundled $23,815.10. They're a PAC that's also making independent expenditures.

Today's Politiwidget:

A roundup of what we're noticing in the Reporting Group as we dig into government data and disclosures:

Milestone: Outside spending in mid-term elections reaches $200 million, my colleague Anupama Narayanswamy reports.

Fat Tuesday: Again! The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee just reported that it spent a little more than $5 million on Tuesday, Oct. 12, its biggest day of spending so far. That day was also the National Republican Senatorial Committee's () biggest day of spending this cycle ($1.8 million). The DSCC, which has spent more than $20 million so far, ran ads against Republican candidates, including Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. The NRSCC has spent $6.7 million so far.

SupporK Murkowski: Ryan Sibley reports that nine Alaskan-based federal contractors, one of which acknowledged her ability to bring home federal dollars to the 49th state, are backing Sen. Lisa Murkowski through a Super PAC called Alaskans Standing Together. Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller.

Be sure to check out our Follow the Unlimited Money tool--updated hourly!--to get all the latest info on outside groups.

From SunlightCAM: Club for Growth Action Fund is running and ad attacking Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. "After 18 months in Washington, Bennet acts like he's been there forever. He voted for government health care, to bail out car companies, how does that help Colorado?"

Wind power: Deepwater Wind, which builds offshore wind farms, has hired Mayforth Group LLC to lobby for it on alternative energy issues. The company has a federal contract.

Second look: GAO reports that Pentagon needs to reassess the joint cruise missile being developed by Lockheed Martin.

Today's Politiwidget:

What we're seeing in online disclosures and documents:

Party Favors: National Republican Congressional Committee top spender on indirect expenditures ($22,175,402) followed by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($15,166,819) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($11,187,080).

GOP Senate Slackers: National Republican Senatorial Committee lags far behind its Democratic counterpart, having spent just $3,292,267 on independent expenditures. National Association of Realtors (which is backing both Republicans and Democrats) has spent more ($3,716,169). Maybe this is why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, top spender on electioneering communications ($15,804,292), has spent nearly $11.6 million on a dozen Senate races.

For information on spending by outside groups in the 2010 mid-term elections, check out our Follow the Unlimited Money tool.

Go East! Despite its name, the Western Representation PAC (which for the most part supports candidates west of the Mississippi--Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle and Alaska Republican candidate Joe Miller) is supporting Sean Bielat, running against incumbent Rep. Barney Frank in Massachusetts' Fourth district. That's not even in the western part of the state! Bielat recently released a poll showing he trailed Frank by ten points.

Mopping up: Insider firm Blank & Rome registers Marine Spill Response Corporation as a client to follow congressional hearings and administration policy on Deepwater Horizon spill. House Energy & Commerce Committee has already requested documents from MSRC related to its relationship with BP; MSRC controlled "bulk of skimmers listed in oil companies' contingency plans" and was "formed and funded collectively by big oil companies after Alaska's Valdez spill in 1989 and run by a former BP executive," according to Reuters.

Bag men: Troubled J Street PAC bundled $20,292 for Sen. Russ Feingold's campaign.

Got to be a typo: A Johnny Satterwhite discloses spending $100 million--that's $100,000,000--lobbying NASA on that agency's work with the Energy Department to "combine the technologies both entities have pertaining to the access and use Of (LIVA) to generate energy." In Satterwhite's registration, filed on April 13, 2010, he wrote, "At this time I am requesting that the Unemployment benefits be extended." Lobbying certainly pays off!

Second highest: Assuming Mr. Satterwhite really did spend $100 million lobbying, the second highest total spent on lobbying disclosed so far for the third quarter of 2010, is $4.15 million by Boeing. We're eagerly awaiting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filing, which, if the past is any guide, should be more robust. While some organizations file early, third quarter lobbying reports aren't due until Oct. 20.