Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
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We're not posting a lot of U.S. Senate ads on this page -- not our beat -- but this one is fascinating.
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith is one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection this year. If you watch this ad, you'll notice that he doesn't mention that he's a Republican. Instead, the whole thing is presented as if it were an endorsement from Barack Obama.
Republicans ended up losing the Louisiana House special election in which they road-tested the strategy of knocking Democrats by connecting them to Obama. But I didn't think we'd see a complete reversal of that idea, with endangered GOPers embracing him. Not good news for McCain, if this catches on.

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