Obama's Israel Ad 'Incredibly Dishonest'

It's become popular for GOP presidential candidates to advocate "zeroing out" all foreign aid, and Barack Obama's campaign is now trying to use that against them—in what Justin Elliott of Salon calls an "incredibly dishonest" attack. Obama's Facebook ad text reads, "No Aid to Israel?" Click it, and you'll bring up this page, which alleges that Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry want to cut off Israeli aid, in an act of "extreme isolationism."

In truth, Republicans are talking about setting foreign aid to zero then determining what levels are appropriate from there, not eliminating it altogether. Romney and Perry have explicitly stated that aid to Israel should continue. Beyond the dishonesty, the ad is notable because it implies that "the general election dynamic in 2012 will be much the same as it was in 2008," Elliot writes: "Each candidate arguing that he will be the stronger ally of Israel, whatever its policies." Click to read the full column. (More Barack Obama stories.)