Senate Guru had a great catch on Sunday. Sen. Elizabeth Dole aired an ad featuring a quick shot of a fighter jet to stress the point that -- so Dole's argument goes -- she used her "clout" to save North Carolina military bases. So why did Elizabeth Dole's campaign quietly edit the ad and change the fighter jet shot (you can watch both versions of the ad at Guru's place)?

Guru:

Someone who saw the footage suggested that the military aircraft in the first version of the ad is actually a French Naval aircraft!  Imagine that, Liddy Dole taking credit for work with the military by using footage of a French military aircraft.

Even better, a commenter elaborates:

The aircraft in the first version of the ad is a French naval aircraft called a Super Etendard...Ironically enough, Super Etendards were also used in Battle by the Iraqi Air Force during the Iran-Iraq war during the 80s. It's doubtful that any aircraft of this type have ever landed in North Carolina, much less been based there.

Indeed the story has been confirmed by The Hill and, as a press release from the DSCC puts it:

According to a report in today's edition of the Hill newspaper, an ad aired by North Carolina Republican Elizabeth Dole taking credit for saving North Carolina military installations actually included images of a French-made Dassault Super Etendard fighter jet, which was last seen in combat action being flown by Saddam Hussein's Air Force during the Iran-Iraq War.

Classic. The old France/Iraq nexus, enough to make heads of wingers everywhere explode. Of course, I'm sure their outrage will begin any...moment...now.

Remarkably this error plays right into the fact that Elizabeth Dole is out of touch and never in North Carolina. Kay Hagan's campaign wasted no time in going after Dole for the screw-up:

The campaign of Dole's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kay Hagan, said Monday that the mix-up shows how out of touch Dole is.

"It's no surprise that Elizabeth Dole would mistake a French aircraft for an American one stationed at a base in North Carolina," said spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan. "It's pretty indicative of the amount of time she spends here in North Carolina. I imagine she's celebrating Bastille Day today, as well."

Help Kay Hagan have the resources she's going to need to get the word out about just how out of touch and missing in action Elizabeth Dole is by giving to her campaign at our Road To 60 Act Blue page.