Posted by Jed Lewison on Sun Jun 8, 2008 at 3:44 AM Pacific

McCain launches first negative attack ad of general election

So much for a "respectful campaign" -- John McCain is now running the first negative attack ad of the general election, and he's jumped right into the sleazy end of the pool with a fear-mongering smear of Barack Obama.

McCain's attack ad depicts Barack and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad facing each other, the visual imagery suggesting that Barack Obama is somehow aligned with one of America's enemies.

Here's the ad (you can see a larger version here):

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If you think there's nothing disrespectful about McCain's ad, take a look at this ad that I mocked up in just a few minutes time. Like McCain's actual ad, it uses visual imagery to to make a brutal attack, in this case suggesting that John McCain is personally indifferent to the deaths of American soldiers.

Whether or not you agree with my mock ad's message, is there anyone who thinks McCain would consider it to be "respectful"? And if not, then how is his ad respectful? Just imagine how angrily the McCain campaign would respond if Barack Obama ever ran an ad such as this.

To be clear, I know that political campaigns are a tough business -- and I'm not squeamish about that. But McCain said his campaign was going to be different, and when he made his pledge, he received glowing press coverage for having set himself apart.

And now that he's broken his promise, launching the first negative attack ad of the general election, straight talk demands that he be held accountable.