News-Record.com

So the North Carolina GOP has put an ad on the air criticizing Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore for endorsing Barack Obama.

I'm struggling with the tactical reasoning behind that decision. On the one hand, they party gets to ding Obama with the Rev. Wright flap again. And those voting in the Republican primary will probably see an endorsement of Obama as a bad thing.

But:

• * Moore and Perdue endorsed Obama for a reason and it wasn't to appeal to Republican primary voters. I somehow doubt this really hurts either of them right now and might actually help both in that it spreads the word that they've endorsed.
• * The general election is seven months away. Why not save your powder until you have one target to run against? In two weeks, either Perdue or Moore will almost certainly be the nominee and you'll have plenty of time to wail on them.
• * Since the Wright flap has not seemed to slow down Obama much here in the state, is it going to slow down two of his endorsers?

Here's the ad.

My 5-cent snark: If you're going to use Rev. Wright's comments, don't be so freaking squeamish and bleep the word "damn." That's like wearing a dinner jacket to a knife fight: it's overly formal and doesn't disguise your intentions to stick something sharp in your opponent.

I may have more on this later. GOP folks embargoed the ad release and I'm probably going to be a presser on the thing as this entry pops onto the internets.

Update: Linda Daves, chairman of the NC GOP, says the ad will start running Monday during the evening news. When asked if the ad was race baiting, she said: "The accusation of race baiting is one of the oldest used tools to drive a wedge between the people of North Carolina. It's a great way to divert the debate from the actual issues that on the table. So I simply don't buy into that."

N.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Caroline Valand differed in her opinion, calling the ad an example of "the same old southern strategy" and calling on Republican nominees for governor and president to renounce the ad.

"They're buying into old southern race politics," she said.

Update: It seems Sen. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee doesn't much like the ad either. Here's an e-mail sent by his campaign:

Dear Chairman Daves,

From the beginning of this election, I have been committed to running a respectful campaign based upon an honest debate about the great issues confronting America today. I expect all state parties to do so as well. The television advertisement you are planning to air degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats. In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.

This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign. We need to run a campaign that is worthy of the people we seek to serve. There is no doubt that we will draw sharp contrasts with the Democrats on fundamental issues critical to the future course of our country. But we need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people.

Once again, it is imperative that you withdraw this offensive advertisement.

John McCain