Reiinforcing the Muslim/terrorist meme

This ad by a 527 group doesn't say Obama is Muslim, nor talk about 'terrorist fist bumps,' but it does work to reinforce those perceptions of Obama. It is factually correct (though a bit slippery in places), noting Bill Ayers' past and Obama's connection to him. All in all, it seems well designed to play on pre-existing fears about Obama's 'otherness' (fears fanned by Hannity, O'Reilly, and the two right-wing hit books now on the best seller lists). For good measure, it tosses a couple of logs on the Sixties culture wars fire. Meanwhile, McCain and his obvious surrogates pretty much keep their distance from these lines of attack while running ads and making speeches that dovetail nicely with them. We've seen this movie before, in 2004, so the question is whether the Obama campaign can find a better way to respond to them and change the ending.



Here's some info from Politico on the person who is the sole funder of this 527:

The spokesman for the American Issues Project, the independent group whose ad is the most negative of the cycle and links Obama to terrorism, says the group just filed a report naming its sole donor.

The donor, spokesman Christian Pinkston said, is Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who made his first fortune in chain pharmacies and is now listed as the 73rd richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $2.1 billion.

Simmons, a major Republican donor, gave maximum $2,300 contributions to Senator John McCain last year, as well as to former Governor Mitt Romney and to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

He's listed as a bundler for the McCain campaign on McCain's website, which says he's raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the Republican candidate.

He's also contributed to Rep. Chet Edwards, the Texas Democrat who has been mentioned as a possible Obama running mate.

Simmons was reportedly a major donor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

He's also a backer of a controversial plan to store nuclear waste in West Texas, which his waste management company would administer.