Just saw this McCain ad over at Nate Silver’s site:

Putting aside the obvious come-back this ad invites (tell Senator McCain it’s not 1938), what are people supposed to take away from this bizarre ad? I thought it was an Obama ad. Then I looked more closely and realized McCain is trying to play off of his line at the debate about not being George Bush (if he’s not George Bush, then why does he talk about him so much?). That’s the “joke” – it’s not 2004, Bush isn’t running for president this time.

But the problem is, all most people see is a big blue square and the words “Senator Obama” – and then they coo warmly, thinking of our next president. And if they bother to actually read the ad, they learn that it’s not 2004, which they already knew, and that they’re supposed to tell Senator Obama that it’s not 2004, which is kind of an embarrassingly stupid thing to ask us to do, since we all pretty much assume that Obama isn’t senile. Then, naturally, you start wondering if John McCain knows what year it is and whether that’s why he think it’s newsworthy to run an ad telling you what year it is (or what year it’s not). Considering most people don’t click through ads (probably 99% don’t), the take-away from the McCain ad is:

1. Go Obama.

2. It’s not 2004. (Is thing going to be part of a series? “Tell Senator Obama it’s not 1492!”)

3. Please tell Senator Obama what year it isn’t.

And John McCain wonders why he’s losing.