The Muhammad Horton ad

While I generally boycott the New Republic as a Republican-owned rag, Ryan Lizza is one of the good guys. And this blog post is a good one.

Bush's first round of ads became immediately famous for using images of Ground Zero and a flag-draped coffin being carried away from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

His newest spot, "100 Days," might soon become famous for another campaign first. It is the first ad to use the image of a dark-skinned man who is obviously meant to be a terrorist.

The ominous slow-motion footage comes about halfway through the 30-second ad. A female voiceover darkly warns about John Kerry's agenda, charging, "On the war on terror: weaken the Patriot Act used to arrest terrorists and protect America." On the left of the screen flash the words "John Kerry's Plan." On the bottom a red box warns, "Weaken Fight Against Terrorists." If you look closely, on the right of the screen you can see an airplane taking off.

The Bush campaign claims the "terrorist" in the ad isn't Arab. You decide:

Hmmm...