Republicans Pull West Virginia Ad With 'Hicky' Actors

What a bone-headed move by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

A commercial the committee ran attacking West Virginia Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin was pulled Thursday, after it was discovered that the company that produced the ad put out a casting call for actors with a "hicky, blue-collar look."

The ad, first reported by Politico, featured supposedly regular looking guys, wearing truckers' hats and flannel shirts, at a diner. The message was that Manchin may be fine as governor, but would be a liberal rubber stamp for President Obama in the U.S. Senate.

This is problematic for a variety of reasons. First, the NRSC used actors, not real people living in the Mountain State. Second, it was filmed outside the state (in Philadelphia), which everyone knows is unwise. But the biggest reason, of course, is that the "hicky, blue-collar" language could be construed as national Republicans seeing average West Virginians as hicks -- and that West Virginia voters are easily manipulated.

Having gone to college in the Mountain State, I can tell you that this is a sore point.

It's important to note that GOP senate nominee John Raese had nothing to do with the ad, though it will, no doubt, unfairly hurt him (the question is, to what degree). The NRSC blames the wording of the casting call on a company it hired to produce the ad.

You can watch the ad here: