I beg to differ, TB. Anyone from the South would know exactly where that ad was coming from and who it was aimed at. I know when I saw it I was thinking to myself that this was no different than some of the stuff they run on TV here...until that last scene. Then I knew exactly what the stink was all about without anyone having to explain it to me. That image of the leering, winking, very blonde babe is designed to push racist buttons like nothing I've seen before.

I'll be the first to grant you that race isn't the issue it used to be in the South 20 years ago and that blacks can get elected by white electorates, in fact, often over white opponents. But even though that widespread racism is rapidly fading here (even faster than in the urban Northeast!), pockets still remain, and this ad is definitely aimed at that small but possibly pivotal constituency.

The myth of the racist, bigoted Southern conservative is indeed a myth, or at least, rapidly becoming one; but apparently it is a myth that is still believed by some Republican spin merchants.