John McCain has occasionally denounced the various smears and rumors about Barack Obama’s patriotism and allegiance to this country, but his new ad will only serve to reinforce them:

NARRATOR: Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hasn’t been to Iraq in years, he voted against funding our troops — positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to help himself become president. John McCain has always supported our troops and the surge that’s working. McCain: Country first.”

MCCAIN: I’m John McCain, and I approved this message.

Note the implication that Obama, unlike McCain, has not “always supported our troops” and that McCain is somehow different than his opponent in putting “[c]ountry first.” Stay classy!

PS How long until McCain does an appearance at a flag factory like George H.W. Bush in 1988?