We had a hit in the headlines section this week about how Rand Paul is “under attack” from the rest of the GOP field and it’s probably the best thing that could happen to him. Clearly one of the Super PACs supporting the Kentucky Senator is getting into the spirit of the battle… though perhaps a bit too much. As The Hill reports today, America’s Liberty PAC has released one of the very first attack ads of the cycle as we approach the deadline for the expiration of the PATRIOT Act, and one of their chief targets is Ted Cruz. (Emphasis added.)

A super PAC backing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is pulling no punches with the first attack ad of the 2016 GOP presidential primary, complete with fire-breathing bald eagles and slams of Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham for their stances on government surveillance.

Mimicking the aggressive style of a wrestling event promo, the one-minute spot teases the Senate debate Sunday (“Sunday! Sunday!”) over expiring portions of the Patriot Act as the “greatest brawl for liberty of the century.”

It also needles Obama’s “so-called conservative accomplices,” Cruz (R-Texas) and Graham (R-S.C.). Cruz, referred to by the super PAC as the “capitulating Canadian” as a dig against the fact that the GOP candidate was born in the country, supports a compromise bill called the USA Freedom Act.

The ad is pretty low budget and not particularly innovative or clever. It takes the “Sunday Sunday Sunday” theme of monster truck or demolition derby events and transfers it to a political debate, complete with explosions and other cheesy sound effects. The graphics aren’t much to write home about either. Here’s the video.

This is great news… for the Democrats and the media mavens who support them. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a variety of opinions and policy positions taking the stage during the primary. That’s why we have elections in the first place. And Reagan’s 11th commandment doesn’t come into play in the primary. If Rand Paul’s backers have a bone to pick with other GOP candidates and wish to vigorously defend his policies, that’s great.

This, however, is something entirely different. Tying Cruz to Barack Obama is bad enough, but playing into the entire neo-birther nonsense and calling Cruz a Canadian is just the kind of dirty mud slinging that the media loves to grab hold of… as long as it’s between Republicans. It spares them having to talk about all the mud engulfing Hillary Clinton at the moment. I’m not saying that the only words coming out of Republicans’ mouths this summer should be against Hillary (though we could use a lot more of Carly Fiorina’s tactics in the field) but I would hope that the Republican primary voters are looking for a spirited debate of ideas and policy proposals.

This attack ad is nonsense, and Rand Paul should distance himself from it immediately to discourage more such behavior in the future.