Uh, wow. Kentucky Republican Mike Pape just laid claim to the most offensive campaign ad of 2016, and it's not even close.
The ad features three "Mexican" men, complete with bogus mustaches and accents, cutting their way through a fence marked "U.S. Border Do Not Cross" in the middle of the night. They then reveal their dastardly plan (in English, of course):
Man #1: Once through, we'll stop Donald Trump!
Man #2: Si! And Ted Cruz, too!
Man #3: And Señor Mike Pape!
Man #1: Who?
Man #3: Mike Pape!
Man #2: [holding out roll of duct tape] Tape?
Man #3: Pape! Mike Pape! The conservative running for Congress who will help Trump build the wall!
Man #2: Will this Mike Pape help Ted Cruz repeal Obamacare?
Man #3: Si!
Man #2: We must stop Mike Pape!
Man #1: [having cut through fence] Vamonos!
You're really just going to have to watch it yourself (video is below).
What can we say, except that in a GOP primary, it'll probably work? Pape, a former longtime district director for retiring Rep. Ed Whitfield, faces a better-funded opponent in former state Agriculture Secretary James Comer for this dark red open seat, but an ad like this is maximized to garner attention (it's already received national coverage). There's also a third candidate running here, Hickman County Attorney Jason Batts, and we estimate that Trump carried the 1st District by roughly a 40-35 margin over Ted Cruz in Kentucky's March caucuses. So that means a contender who aligns himself as closely with The Donald as Pape is could achieve victory with a similar plurality. Ugh, let's hope not.