A GOP attack that is submerged in the gutter

WELL, IT HASN'T taken very long for the national Republican Party to deliver itself to the depths of a malodorous open sewer in setting the stage for this year's Ohio Senate race. In case you have yet to hear about it, the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted an Internet ad that left no doubt that a bare-chested Lee Fisher, the Democratic candidate, is...masturbating.

What's that again? Masturbating.

The ad even reworked a still photo of Fisher to create the sort of body movement that one could easily associate with the big M.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the ad ends with the "final image of Fisher, with one hand on his bare stomach and the other below his waist, dissolves to these words: 'Dare to see

more?' That is followed by an invitation to go to a GOP-sponsored web site that attacks Fisher."

The paper also quotes Amber Marchand, a NRSC spokeswoman, as saying a bare-chested Fisher was "meant to create a buzz." She added: "Obviously, there are a lot of different ways that folks (use to) draw attention to web videos." She didn't think it was raunchy at all.

It is only May. But given the ugly mindset of the people running the GOP, which has not yet demonstrated that it has anything useful to say to the voters while it scratches around for a "buzz", you can be sure that the chieftains are just warming up to their disgusting mission. It won't be pretty.

Care to