And when you look at the big picture, it seems to me it's the Obama team using its huge money lead and fundraising ability to full advantage. For instance, look at what he did to Hillary in Pennsylvania. Despite all the breathless reporting by the punditry, the Obama campaign knew they couldn't win there. But they spent heavily, forcing Hillary to spend huge amounts to defend a state tailor-made for her candidacy. And it essentially bankrupted her campaign, for almost nothing when balanced against Obama's gains in NC.

Now multiply that in the general to include the targets of Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia, and you can see where this is going.

The Obama team is betting that they'll be able to take at least a few red/swing states, while forcing McCain to expend scarce resources to defend them all.

Will it work? We'll see. But I think a lot of the Republican “outcry” over Obama skipping public financing (this from many of the same people who label campaign finance reform the death of free speech) is in reality due to deep concern over this very scenario.

Has he seen any of the ads with the family grouped around the cadidate (family man with family values)? Even a divorced family values canddidate in NJ gathered his children for the photo ad..

How subtle are the American flags behind McCain's speeches, or the troops in attendance for Bush appearances?

McCains speech on offshore drilling was made in front of a cheering crownd of oilmen. How subtle was that?

i wonder if Yglesias has been away on vacation while politics goes on in the USA.
With outright pandering left and right, this queeziness about the lack of subtlety
strikes me as bizarre, so bizarre as to make me wonder if any ad by Obama could pass his scrutiny without him finding some handy quibble with it. Perhaps it' would too long, too short, too serious, too light-hearted. or, if nothing else, maybe his ears could be found wanting.