The Republican slime fest has begun.

Those who said Senator Hillary Clinton went too negative against her opponent, Senator Barack Obama, must have been expecting something a little more Proctor and Gamble like, "Please don't squeeze the Obama."

The North Carolina GOP is already running an ad depicting Obama as weak, ultra liberal, and out of sync with Middle American values.

It's not a squeeze.

It's a bone crusher.

With the Rev. Wright ranting in the background, the ad is designed to expose who Obama has turned to for spiritual guidance over the last 20 years.

It's not even suggesting guilt by association.

It's saying "here's a look at the other Obama."

The ad raises fears about Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue, too.

Senator John McCain has denounced the ad and asked the North Carolina GOP to stop running it. But for many voters, the damage to Obama is done.

It's debatable whether the ad is racist. Every criticism of Obama can't be labeled as such

Considering the context of where the ad is running - the south - and using a specific depiction of a black preacher blasting American culture - the image is clearly racial racketeering at its finest, intended to make conservative white voters nervous.

The problem with ads like this one, even though McCain has denounced it, is that the message still reaches the target audience without the senator's fingerprints all over it.

And, regardless of what anyone says about negativity, the ads are effective.

McCain knows that firsthand.

The whole country gasped when Bush's henchmen used similar techniques to slime McCain in 2000.

But it rocked the senator's "maverick" image, and helped put Bush in the White House.