THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES A NEW AD ON THE FINANCIAL CRISIS:

Meanwhile, Time attacks McCain’s Fannie Mae ad as racist — because it doesn’t go far enough:

This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.

Let me stipulate: Obama’s Fannie Mae connections are completely fair game. But this ad doesn’t even mention a far more significant tie–that of Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chairman who had to resign as head of Obama’s vice presidential search team after it was revealed he got a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Instead, it relies on a fleeting and tenuous reference in a Washington Post Style section story to suggest that Obama’s principal economic adviser is former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines. Why? One reason might be that Johnson is white; Raines is black.

Or maybe there are just too many dubious Obama associations to fit into a single commercial? Anyway, here’s the ad — make up your own mind. And maybe the McCain people can oblige the folks at Time by rolling out a Jim Johnson ad next? It’s a target-rich environment . . . .

Meanwhile, if Obama is President, will Time regard every criticism of his administration as racist?

UPDATE: Bob Krumm emails: “How do you know that the Obama-Raines ad hits its target? Because Time magazine has declared that it is racist.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ask and ye shall receive! Here’s the Jim Johnson ad:

So does that undercut the racism charges? Will Time apologize? Are these rhetorical questions?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Two, two, two papers in one!