The health care ad assault continues this week, led by a $1.2 million ad campaign launched by conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth.

The Club is targeting members of the House and Senate from four states whom it believes "may be persuaded to reject a government-run health insurance program" -- read, centrist Democrats, many with competitive contests on the horizon.

Those targeted include: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada; Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall of Colorado; Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas; and Byron L. Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota.

Democratic represenatives include Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross of Arkansas; Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, John Salazar, Betsy Markey and Ed Perlmutter of Colorado; and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota.

The ads, which Club for Growth said will "run throughout the August recess," seeks to play up seniors' fear that the Democrats' proposed health care overhaul will lead to government intervention in end-of-life decisions, or as Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan less artfully put it last week, "government-encouraged euthanasia."

A Senate amendment that would have allowed licensed gun owners to carry concealed firearms across state lines was backed by six Democratic senators who are running for re-election in 2010.

Among those voting "aye" on the amendment, which received 58 votes but failed because 60 votes were required for adoption, were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

Democrat Byron L. Dorgan has been very popular over his three terms representing North Dakota in the Senate. Thus, the widely held conclusion that the only Republican who could seriously challenge him in his 2010 re-election bid is John Hoeven, the state's popular three-term governor.

Hoeven, though, has been reticent about the possibility of a Senate bid, so even a hint that he is thinking about opposing Dorgan is bound to get attention. That happened Monday, when, according to the Associated Press, Hoeven said he might make a decision by Labor Day about whether to run for the Senate.

"I don't have any specific timeline, but that's probably a reasonable range," Hoeven told the AP while discussing the state Republican Party's efforts to recruit a challenger to Dorgan.

But when CQ Politics inquired about the remark later in the day, Hoeven's office suggested we don't read too much into it.