Is This the Worst Campaign Ad Ever Made?

Sheeps, wolves, "FCINOs," and men dresses as wolves pretending to be sheep

Once the sheep falls off its Greek pedestal and begins spinning through storm clouds to an operatic soundtrack, it hits you: this is possibly one of the worst political campaign ads ever made. By the time the man dressed as a wolf pretending to be a sheep appears and crawls on all fours through a field of real sheep, the doubt is gone.

Carly Fiorna is the one responsible for putting out the ad against Tom Campbell, her opponent in California's Republican Senatorial primary. YouTube campaign ads like this one are made to attract attention--and an audience--from bloggers. She sure her wish, though she probably doesn't like the commentary.

• World's Dumbest Metaphor  The New Republic's Jonathan Chait laughs. "The funny thing about this ad, aside from the clumsy over-the-top quality, is the metaphor," he writes. "Sheep. But not in a disparaging way. The good politicians are sheep, doing what Grover Norquist tells them to do. Campbell, the ad tells us, is only pretending to be a sheep, but he's really a wolf. So vote for the sheep."

• Attacking Independence?  The Washington Post's Ezra Klein gasps, "It's almost impossible for me to believe that this ad comparing fiscal conservatives to sheep -- but in a good way! -- is real. But it is! The problem with Tom Campbell, the ad says, is all of his independent thought." He writes, "The narrator goes through efforts Campbell made to solve problems, and then asks the audience, can you believe all this responsible governance he attempted?"

• The Sheep Candidate  National Review's Maggie Gallagher is stunned. "I'm not entirely sure, Daniel, but I think Carly Fiorna just put out an ad in which she tells voters: 'I am the real sheep in this race.'"

• Syncs Up With Pink Floyd  Time's Michael Scherer is delighted. "The best way to view California Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina's awesomely bizarre new primary campaign ad--which includes shots of an alien robot sheep, or something--is by pressing play on your cassette tape of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon just as you click play on YouTube." An old rumor holds that the album can be played while watching The Wizard of Oz.

• DemonSheep Trends on Twitter  The tag #DemonSheep tag is blowing up Twitter. A reference to the demonic sheep in the ad, everyone from White House reporters to everyday voters are using it to mock Fiorna and the ad. Of course, some immediately started a dedicated DemonSheep Twitter account.

• This Cost $15K  A source tells Wonkette, "Wow…they did shoot all of that sheep stuff. It wasn’t stock footage. Paid crew for the sheep stuff and an editor for two days worth of cutting that stuff, titling, paid crew, equipment rental and effects plus the gathering of the rest of the stock footage…but there is an office scene too - probably $15,000." Yikes.