In Michigan, Ad Attacks Obama For Kilpatrick Connections

A group called Freedom's Defense Fund sends word that it's running a television advertisement that calls attention to Sen. Barack Obama's past association with fallen Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Watch the ad here.

The ad makes note of Obama's previous praise for Kilpatrick, questions Obama's judgment, and then asks: "Do you know who Barack Obama's friends are?"

If Obama and Kilpatrick were white, and if there was no racial tension between Detroit and its suburbs, perhaps the next question would not arise: does the ad seek to exploit concerns about Obama's otherness? Is it appropriate to link Kilpatrick and Obama? Do these guilt by association ads work?

It will run, according to a spokesman for the group, in Macomb County. No other buy details were disclosed.

Fair is fair: Obama called on Kilpatrick to resign about six hours before the mayor stepped down.