Many Democrats also upset over party’s ad comparing Hispanic immigrants to terrorists

Some Democrats are upset about the lack of sense shown by those in their own party who created an advertisement many believe unfairly compared Hispanic immigrants to terrorists.

After writing about the subject yesterday, I’ve had several calls and e-mails from Democrats who are upset about the ad created by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The ad, which was posted on the group’s Web site Tuesday, attacked Republicans and showed footage of two undocumented immigrants scaling a border fence along with images of Osama Bin Laden and North Korea’s leader. It compared the problem of illegal immigration to those of terrorism and rogue nations.

The Democratic group’s spokesman, Phil Singer, dismissed criticism as a Republican group “trying to gloss over the White House’s abysmal record on security,” according to the Associated Press. “This group’s time would be better spent pressuring reluctant Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform.”

But criticism that started with Republicans spread far beyond the GOP to include some Democratic officials and La Raza. A Washington insider tells me some Democrats, upon learning about the ad, went to the Democratic National Committee Wednesday to complain. The DNC had the DSCC remove the ad from its Web site by 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The ad cost about $5,000, the insider said.

The insider said the ad might not have been a problem if it had been done more tastefully. Instead of stating that millions more illegal immigrants have entered the country under the Bush Administration and showing footage of people scaling a border fence, which, the way the ad was done, could be viewed as comparing Hispanic immigrants to terrorists, the ad could have showed U.S. Border Patrol agents and stated that the administration has ignored 9/11 Commission recommendations on border security.

As it stands, Democrats are waiting to see whether there is any additional fallout. They threw a huge bone to Republicans at a time when Democrats are working hard to take control of Congress.

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