Wow. This strikes me as a pretty devastating ad (via Marc Ambinder):
Ambinder writes: "The campaign supports Mr. Black -- aides say that he's an integral part of the team and will not be going anywhere anytime soon." I wonder how long that can last.
Also, the ad makes you somewhat second-guess the Obama campaign's determination to de-fund the 527s and run most of the messaging effort itself. I generally think that's a good idea--too many arguments at once can produce a bunch of noise. But this strikes me as precisely the kind of ad you'd want a 527 running. The campaign can't really do it itself--the ad's a little too tough. But it's fair game and you'd hate to take a pass on it entirely.
Having said that, MoveOn (the producer of this ad) is one of the groups that's going to be around regardless--it has its own grassroots base and doesn't rely on the wealthy Democratic donors the Obama campaign is leaning on. So maybe the Dems will get the balance about right: a tight, coherent message run almost entirely out of the campaign, but with a few well-funded independent groups like MoveOn pushing the envelope.
--Noam Scheiber