Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-Minn.) pointed ad taking aim at rival Al Franken’s pornographic satire scores highly with Republicans but not so much with Democrats and independents, according to a survey by Wilson Research Strategies.

In his ad, an actor is shown at a bowling alley alongside two friends, talking about the former “Saturday Night Live” star’s problems. Among them: Franken not paying certain taxes, his “tasteless, sexist” jokes and his “juicy porn” — a reference to a graphic 2000 Playboy column the comedian penned.

“As we sometimes see with negative ads, independents like the ad less than even Democrats, though they do find it marginally more credible,” Wilson Research CEO Chris Wilson said.

Franken’s response ad, in which he soberly addresses his past writings and admits he is not proud of all of it, actually fared better among independents, with a rating of 4.8. Democrats scored the ad a 7.0 and Republicans a 4.2.

In the ad, Franken acknowledges the difference between his role as an entertainer and potential one as a senator. He then decries Coleman’s support for the Iraq war and accuses his opponent of taking millions from “Big Oil” and “special interests.”

“That’s no joke,” Franken intones. “I’m serious about fighting for you.”

Another ad that recently garnered lots of attention was a Web ad from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that mocks the media’s supposed love affair with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Featuring Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “You’re Just Too Good To Be True” as background music and red hearts aplenty, the ad skewers prominent members of the media, including MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, for their alleged bias towards Obama.

The ad scored poorly overall, though, including a 3.1 among Democrats and a 4.4 among independents. Republicans gave it a 6.2.

In other ads tested, Obama’s ad playing up his work with Republican Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) to lock “down loose nuclear weapons” scored well among Democrats (6.4) and independents (5.3) but received only a 4.0 among Republicans.

A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) ad for former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) that focuses heavily on his fiscal responsibility garnered fairly similar low ratings across the board — 4.5 among Republicans, 4.6 among Democrats and 4.9 among independents.

The ad drew some scrutiny because it inhabits what some experts call a gray area of the law by not expressly advocating for the candidate and therefore avoiding certain campaign spending limits.

Comparing all five ads, Franken’s was deemed the most effective overall, with 26 percent of the vote, followed by a three-way tie among McCain’s, Obama’s and Coleman’s ads, at 23 percent each.

“Overall, voters are torn about which ad is the best of the bunch,” Wilson said. “The DSCC’s much-besieged ad for Ronnie Musgrove is the only ad that clearly fails to resonate.”

Working with The Hill for its Air War feature, Wilson Research Strategies e-mails campaign or issue ads to survey participants who view the ads and rate their effectiveness on several criteria.