Coates on McCain's latest ad

This is better: McCain still pushing the celeb angle. I disagree with Eric on the race angle. It's just hard for me to buy that the mere presence of a white women in the same space as Obama would change a substantial number of votes. If the entire election were in Tennessee, maybe. But as a national strategy?

I suspect Coates is showing some restraint here, and if so, I applaud him. But I think he misses the point with the escalating theme in these ads. The McCain camp isn't trying to plant subliminal fears into the minds of white parents nationwide. Rather, I suspect they're just trying to get pundits to overreact to its ambiguous "Hot chicks dig Obama" theme. In other words, McCain's not trying to race bait, he's trying to race-card bait.