TPM Reader JM not happy with McCain’s sleazy campaign …

The sex ed ad is literally worse than the Willie Horton ad, because at least the Horton story was true. But the bill Obama supported actually did the reverse of what McCain claims – it didn’t mandate more sex ed for anybody, it tried to toughen up existing classes by teaching the risks of STDs. The bill didn’t glorify sex, it highlighted the dangers of sex. It’s the most old fashioned sex ed there is: scaring kids straight. So now even THAT is anti-family? Calling this “perverse” is a good first step, but the lie here deserves much, much more. It’s the disgusting act of a candidate who cares more about scaring people with lies than warning kids about the dangers of early sexual activity. Anyone who would oppose such

warnings is an objective supporter of unprotected, unsafe underage sex. So throw back the slime with a truthful attack: It’s McCain who wants more unsafe teenage sex, McCain who wants more kids to get STDs, McCain who wants more young people to get HIV. McCain would rather win a political campaign than protect children from sexual diseases. That’s worse than shameful, worse than unpatriotic. That’s evil.

TPM Reader WS has some more to add …

Is everyone looking close enough at the McCain ad? I just watched the ad again. There is one picture of children, all of them white (I think – can you tell?) And the next image is of Obama, looking down and over his shoulder, with a smile on his face. But since when do campaign ads show your opponent smiling? It’s always a frown or a grimace, right? Not this time. What’s he smiling about? It’s not subtle. And it’s not an ad about sex education. A black man, sex, and children. I think this ad is more odious than is being acknowledged. Take another look at it!

Couldn’t agree more. But let’s not be surprised. McCain is pure sleaze. Sound harsh? Sure. But any other interpretation of the man at this point amounts to willful obliviousness or an embrace of the fantasy that he somehow doesn’t know what his campaign is doing in his name. This is the race he’s decided to run. Now what do you do about it?