I don’t see any way you can say this isn’t a Jew-baiting ad against Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN). Too bad the CBC and Emily’s List are backing the candidate running it. M.J. Rosenberg has more.

I should add as background that I know from a very reliable source that Nikki Tinker, the candidate running the ad, has said before large numbers of supporters that she planned to make Cohen’s non-embrace of Christianity (i.e., he’s Jewish) a key part of her campaign. And I’m given to understand that this aspect of her campaign is widely understood in Dem circles in DC.

From TPMCafe: We’ll Always Have Paris. Though I guess some of us more than others.

Earlier today I flagged what I described as a Jew-baiting ad that Democratic primary challenger Nikki Tinker is running against Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) in Tennessee’s 9th CD. A number of you wrote in to say that the ad seems to have been taken down. We checked. And you’re right. The video we imbedded at Election Central was from Tinker’s own Youtube account. And the campaign now appears to have taken the ad down.

As best as we can tell, there’s no other copy of it on Youtube, at least none we can find. So for now it’s gone — at least on the web.

It seems this story about McCain fundraiser Harry Sargeant III, that Greg and Eric were reporting on today, just keeps getting dicier. Now the New York Times has more.

Late Update: Even more interesting. Eric Kleefeld catches a further connection the Times appears to have missed.

Obama surrogate Tom Daschle says McCain’s new “Celeb” attack ads are having an effect on the race, but not so much as to throw the Obama camp off their game plan. That and other political news in today’s Election Central Morning Roundup.

To get the very latest campaign polls direct to your inbox every morning, subscribe to the TPM Daily Digest.

McCain mocks Obama for being right about energy and tire-pressure.

Remember the roughly $300,000 that Hess oil execs dumped into the RNC-McCain campaign coffers around the time of his flip on offshore drilling?

Turns out two high-ranking McCain campaign officials were paid lobbyists for Hess oil for years, and one still may be.

Tennessee Jew-baiter faces the voters today.

Late Update: Jew-baiter gets trounced.

To me, the presidential race reached a turning point last week when John McCain opted for a campaign of denigration employing racial stereotypes, sexualized talking points for surrogates (Obama as “internet date”) and copious ridicule. It’s made the curve that much of the media still uses to grade McCain’s more obvious shortcomings all the more conspicuous and significant …

High-res version at Veracifier.com.

Barack Obama is embarking on a week-long vacation from the campaign, with none other than Hillary Clinton set to fill in for him on the trail. That and other political news in today’s Election Central Morning Roundup.

To get the very latest campaign polls direct to your inbox every morning, subscribe to the TPM Daily Digest.