Republican Allen Weh may not have much chance to defeat Sen. Tom Udall and become New Mexico's senator, but he's apparently concluded that's no reason not to make himself look terrible along the way. Weh has put out
an ad featuring an image from the execution of American journalist James Foley—despite Foley's family's request that people not watch or share video of the execution. But Weh's campaign's defense of the ad may be worse than its use of the image in the first place:
Asked if the Weh campaign considered the Foleys' request before deciding to use the footage, a spokeswoman told The Huffington Post that the ad did not defy the family's wishes because it only showed Foley's executioner -- an as-yet-unidentified man with a British accent -- and not Foley himself.
"It's not Foley, it's the man who killed him," the spokeswoman said.
Oh! Well, that's completely sensitive and thoughtful of all concerned, then. Who could object to a political campaign "only" using a picture of a man's masked executioner in its fearmongering ad? Downright tasteful.
But if fear is all you've got, of course you go for the freshest, scariest image you can think of.