Via Ben Smith, I think she’s technically telling the truth here. According to Politico, she didn’t start digging that six-figure hole in unpaid taxes on her plane until 2007, the year after this was made. So who knows? Maybe we’ll see another ad in this vein soon. “And I’m pleased to report that, as of last month, we really have paid every dime of our taxes now. Finally.” She may be a tax cheat, my friends, but at least she’s, er, honest-ish about it.

Ace thinks she’s been so badly wounded by this that she’ll drop out and head for a cushy retirement. I doubt it. Democrats have so many seats to defend next year that they may well be better off with a weak incumbent who can do her own fundraising than with a newbie who needs help from the DSCC. Besides, although Missouri is turning red — just check out The One’s approval rating there lately — McCaskill’s numbers haven’t cratered yet. Hopefully they’ll head south soon, but I’m always skeptical that fatal damage can be done by scandals involving tax-dodging, influence peddling, etc. Voters have grown so cynical about politicians, I think, that they practically expect this sort of thing to go on. The good news is, even if she’s by and large forgiven, this should shatter any remaining pretensions about her identifying with Joe Sixpack. If you’re an independent who liked McCaskill’s common touch before, you’ll have to find a new reason to vote for her next time.

The ad is the first clip. The second clip, via our Townhall cousin Guy Benson, is of a Republican tracker having some fun with McCaskill on her way out of a fundraising breakfast this morning. Note well the line about whether she considers herself a federal employee. If you don’t get the joke there, follow the link to Guy’s post and all shall be revealed.