Un-aired RNC Benghazi ad: The "3 A.M. phone call," reprised

Remember the, “it’s 3 A.M. and your children are safe and asleep. But, there’s a phone in the White House, and it’s ringing. Something’s happening in the world. … Who do you want answering the phone?”-themed campaign ad from Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2008 Democratic primary?

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The Republic National Committee prepped a new ad riffing on that ad before the presidential election last October — but never ran it, reports ABC:

A source familiar with the creation of the ad says the RNC leadership approved the ad but it was scrapped at the last minute because of objections from the Romney campaign, which was concerned the ad would distract from Romney’s efforts to focus on the economy.

While the ad borrows from Hillary Clinton’s efforts to raise questions in 2008 about Barack Obama’s ability to lead the country through a crisis, Republicans are now pointing to the Benghazi attack and the way it was handled to raise questions about the leadership of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the attack.

Granted, sounds like it might have only ever been meant for a web ad, and who knows how effective it might have been, considering that it was aimed at one of Obama’s most unassailable delegates rather than the president himself, but dang. Talk about hoisting someone on their own petard! Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose, and this story is only getting increasingly damaging for Clinton — but maybe Joe Biden can get some mileage out of it in a 2016 primary, eh?

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