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It’s a case of really bad timing.

John McCain’s campaign put out yet another slashing anti-Obama ad on Monday morning that accused Barack Obama of being part of “the corrupt Chicago machine.” The evidence? William Daley, an Obama policy adviser, is a lobbyist and brother to the mayor of Chicago. (He also was commerce secretary during the Clinton years.) The ad goes on to note that Obama’s “money man” is Tony Rezko, a convicted felon–making the disgraced developer sound like Obama’s main fundraiser, which he was not. The ad also declares that “his governor, Rod Blagojevich” has “a legacy of federal and state investigations.” His governor? Well, that’s true, since Obama is a resident of Illinois. But this is guilt by association. Under such a standard, Obama could run an ad saying, “John McCain–part of a corrupt political machine. His fellow Republican legislator in Arizona–indicted for money laundering.” (That would be Rick Renzi, who was cochairman of McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign in Arizona.)

In response to this ad, Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued a statement: “Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate as an independent Democrat. He took on the Chicago Democratic organization in a primary to win a seat in the US Senate. And in both Illinois and Washington, he has challenged the Old Guard for landmark ethics reforms.”

But, more to the point, the ad came out the morning The New York Times reported that McCain’s campaign manager was paid nearly $2 million for running a Washington outfit set up by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop stricter regulation of these two entities. Talk about the corrupt Washington machine. McCain’s right hand was one of its major players. Yet McCain accuses Obama of being part of a corrupt system. No doubt, Davis approved that message.