Rove Rule #1: When in doubt, exploit 9-11 and swift boat the hell outof your opponent.

In his latest advertisement, a desperate Ohio Senator Mike Dewine has adopted this most base brand of Rovian politics by not only using images of the Twin Towers burning, but actually doctoring them as ifthe reality didn’t suffice for needed shock value. The tasteless ad goes on to smearRep. Sherrod Brown in an effort to portray him as “weakening American security.”

We’re revisiting the dirty, divisive, shameful Bush-Cheney playbook of 2004 with its mushroom clouds, swift boat lies, and false patriotism.

Senator Dewine’s ad ends with the assertion that Sherrod Brown is “out of touch with Ohio values.” Maybe it’s time to let Senator Dewine know that what is out of touch is his use of gutter politics.