Am I crazy to read this as a sly, secular counterpoint to Huck’s ad? The red sweater, Christmas tree, and yuletide greetings are generic for Christmas spots — Ron Paul’s ad had them too — but Paul’s ad came out before Huckabee’s splashed down and got so much attention. Everything in its wake in this vein will feel like a commentary on it, which makes the absence of that, ahem, “bookshelf” in this ad that much more conspicuous. If Rudy had tried to parody it by positioning a Yankees logo or something in the background where the bookshelf should be, I’d probably have endorsed him just for his cheekiness. Then, for once, the secularists could have played the faux-naivete game with Huck’s supporters. “He’s not mocking you. The Yankee logo’s there coincidentally.”

This one’s much more overtly political than Huck’s was, of course. Emphasis on “overtly.” Alas, poor Rudy, we knew him well.