NRA's New Ad: McDonnell Protects You From "Them"

By Marc Ambinder

The National Rife Association's political action committee takes aim at gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds in new ad that's running across the state of Virginia. The spot isn't just about guns. And it doesn't actually mention Deeds -- who opposes gun control -- by name.

A deep-voiced narrator intones that "they" are creating "mountains of debt" and heavy spending and "unprecedented government intervention" that chips away at "Your Rights" and "Your Freedom," including "Our Second Amendment." Who's "them?" Not defined.

But, the viewer is told, "you can stop them right now." How? By voting for Bob McDonnell on November 2.

Kind of sneaky -- although sneaky in a fairly obvious way -- to cast Bob McDonnell as the defense against unknown malevolent forces who are trying to take away your guns...even though the reality is that neither Democrats in Virginia nor Democrats in Washington have any appetite for gun control legislation.

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