McCain ≠ Bush

MoveOn.org's new ad (video below) will be broadcast in Arizona and across national cable. It equates McCain to Bush, saying, "They laugh alike and walk alike and sometimes even talk alike. Think you can tell 'em apart?".

The Democrats - and Obama's "new" politics - will be in danger if this line of attack is pressed too far. For all their similarities and shared policies, Bush and McCain do not spring from the same kettle of fish. If Obama and his party want to get away from the empty distractions of political sniping (so long the Republican strategy), then they should sincerely attempt to wage the contest at the level of the "issues". Cheap associations and insidious reasoning should be left in the Karl Rove playbook. It's time to well and truly move on.