Ads for ids.

So the McCain campaign recapitulates the earlier exposition in its latest ad. What's the target audience?

Near the end of this article about Time's latest poll is part of the answer:

McCain is lagging in enthusiasm. Forty-nine percent of Obama voters describe themselves as "very enthusiastic," compared to just 21% of McCain backers, and a full 27% of the Republican nominee's supporters say they are either "not very" or "not at all" enthusiastic about him, compared with 10% for Obama.

One of the most under-reported stories this election season is the enthusiasm gap between regular Republicans for McCain and regular Democrats for Obama. Because of this enthusiasm gap, the McCain campaign on-the-ground organization is practically nonexistent. Take this message to TPM from a Republican insider:

Remember, he has NO national ground game to counter Obama's vaunted field organization. No Bush-style 72 hour GOTV operation, no large and disciplined staff -- just a small core staff and media operation. In order to win without a ground game he literally has to destroy Obama as a viable alternative -- it isn't enough to just get close. That means the ads will be harder edged, more plentiful and more relentless than we've ever seen.

So to a large extent, McCain has been forced to engage in "red meat" messaging to the Republican base over the airwaves. The Bush Jr campaigns in 2004 and 2000 left that kind of messaging to its on-the-ground organization, taking advantage of GOP rank-and-file enthusiasm for Bush Jr. In those election cycles the "red meat" never needed to hit the airwaves. This cycle, the McCain campaign is dishing it out on our television sets, and while the red meat isn't as rare as a Republican congressman's son's Facebook page, it's not well-done either.