Always a good question in an election year, and over at the Secret Money Project, our colleague Will Evans traces the couldn't-make-it-up origins of one such ad: the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric's spot from last June.

With its suggestions that Obama was a closet Muslim, it was the first truly inflammatory ad of the '08 campaign.

But it wasn't cooked up by high-priced DC consultants. The ad went on the air — and into the blogosphere — thanks to a hypnotherapist, a wedding videographer, a felonious fugitive... and an inattentive employee at a TV station.

Will uncovers it all, from missing money to disappearing devil horns. His tale of Weird Politics is here.