by Evie Stone

McCain and the RNC have a new contrast spot of their own, revisiting their now-familiar themes that Obama is famous and will tax you to a fare-thee-well.

This ad ups the ante with ominous photos of Democratic Senators (and, if you believe the voice-over, fiendish tax-raisers) Chris Dodd, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, and...Byron Dorgan?

As Jonathan Martin points out, the GOP's usual liberal symbols Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton are off the table this year (Kennedy because he's a sympathetic figure due to his battle with cancer; HRC because the McCain camp hopes to pick off her supporters). NPR's Ken Rudin adds that some other prominent female Dems (California's Barbara Boxer, for example) are also absent from the ad, maybe because of the McCain campaign's efforts to appeal to women.

But, we must say, these comparisons don't pack nearly the same punch as the McCain-Bush link the Dems are using. Does America even know who Byron Dorgan is, much less fear his tax policies? (D-ND, for those of you who are wondering. No, not that one. You're thinking of Kent Conrad.)