John Kerry Condemns Innocuous Ad Criticizing Coakley on Taxes

The AP reports that the American Future Fund will spend $400,000 on an ad in the Massachusetts Senate race contrasting Republican Scott Brown's opposition to taxes with Democrat Martha Coakley's statement that "we need to get taxes up."

The cash-strapped Brown does his best to feign disappointment:

"I wish this weren’t happening. This race is not going to be decided by outside groups. It will come down to the very real differences that exist between myself and Martha Coakley on taxes, spending, treatment of terrorists and ending business-as-usual in Washington. People deserve to hear from the both of us, which is why I hope she'll agree to meet me in more debates."

John Kerry is outraged:

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is condemning the ad, citing links between American Future Fund personnel and the group that attacked his Vietnam Swift Boat exploits during the 2004 presidential campaign.

"George Bush-Karl Rove shadowy attack politics have no place in the race for Ted Kennedy's seat or in Massachusetts politics," Kerry said in a statement. "When Bill Weld and I ran against each other for the Senate (in 1996), we kept our word to keep the outside groups out of Massachusetts."

Maybe the Democrats are alarmed, or maybe Kerry's just trying to rile up the base. Watch the frightful ad here:

Kerry might not want to cry swiftboating! over such an innocuous ad. It might diminish his outrageously outraged response to any ads about Coakley's lax prosecution of a child rapist. Such an ad would perfectly be described as swiftboating, insofar as it would reveal something true--albeit an ugly truth--about a candidate.

Not that there are any such ads in the works, to my knowledge.