Only a day after Nancy Pelosi threatened to tar every Republican with the Mark Foley scandal, Democratic nominee Patty Wetterling is first up with an ad:

"It shocks the conscience. Congressional leaders have admitted to covering up the predatory behavior of a congressman who used the internet to molest children."

One sentence, TWO lies. That's pretty good even for a Democrat.

Dean Barnett has the essential observation over at Hugh Hewitt:

Once again we get an unhindered view of the Democrats' campaign philosophy: Offer pure bile, unconstrained by any fidelity to available facts. As has so often been the case in recent history, the last days of a campaign season are revealing the true face of the Democratic Party. It ain't pretty.

Read the whole post at the link above. Of course, Democrats welcome a Republican "sex" scandal as a diversion from the necessity of talking about issues, where the fact they have NO plan, NO program, and NO vision for America (beyond higher taxes, socialized medicine, and submitting our national security needs for UN approval) sometimes makes the debate a bit awkward.

This sort of ad, though, is so over-the-top and blatantly false that it could have a negative net effect. Voters in Minnesota and elsewhere - even in Foley's former Florida district - know very well that no one approves of such behavior. Attempting to "tar" all Republicans with Foley, as Pelosi and Kos hope to do, may well trigger exactly the opposite reaction.

Voters may not be as stupid as Democrats hope.

UPDATE 2:00 p.m.: Barnett has added an interesting post comparing the potential Democratic overreach on Foley to their Wellstone funeral debacle. He writes:

But what made the Wellstone Memorial noteworthy was its raw ugliness. Republican dignitaries who attended the event to show their respect for Wellstone were booed when their images were shown on the Jumbotron. Many fevered-swamp type Democrats saw nothing wrong with this. The country recoiled from the spectacle, utterly repulsed and shocked. To many Democrats, though, the unsightliness of the Wellstone funeral apparently remains an obscure mystery.

The Democratic Party seems intent on replaying this mistake with the Foley affair. Let's temporarily put aside the timing of the release of the Instant Messages and who-knew-what-when. Let's just say for the moment that while the media currently hounds the Republican leadership, it's a safe bet that it wasn't the Republican leadership that plopped Foley's IM's into the lap of ABC News. If whoever was the errand boy delayed delivery to best achieve maximum political benefit, then the Democrats' newfound status as the party of conventional morality will receive a decided blow.

Read it all at the above link. There is an old saying, "Always let your reach exceed your grasp," but in this case, as at the Wellstone funeral, Democrats tend to let their overreach exceed their tenuous grasp on reality, and that's rarely a wise move.