The RNSC Anti-Laffey “Matricula ID” ad that Andrew discussed here several days ago is really causing Lincoln Chafee angina. The Providence Journal had a front-page story on Saturday, Chafee faces critics of a TV ad about Hispanics, that is actually pretty good. It doesn’t let Chafee off easy, pointing out that the only reason that the ad is off the air now is that it had run its paid course — neither the NRSC nor Chafee took the ad off in response to complaints from the Latino groups. The ad really is a nasty piece of work, rating a big one star after 34,600 viewings on YouTube where it is now posted. Now that the ad is getting well-deserved negative press, note how NRSC spokesman Dan Ronayne attempts to isolate Chafee from the ad’s consequences:

“Chafee, who stepped outside the office to face his critics, said he complained to an NRSC representative this week about the ad, but whether or not it contributed to the ad coming off the air, he couldn't say.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," Chafee said. "I made my feelings known."

Chafee empathized with his critics, but attributed his delayed response to "the reality of independent ads," over which he said he had no control.

"I never saw it until it was on everybody's TV. I saw it when everybody else saw it. I had the exact same feeling, and once you get into stereotyping or any kind of zeroing in on any population, it's not fair," the senator said.

Chafee aide Stephen Hourahan clarified that the topic came up while Chafee was speaking with an NRSC member at his Warwick campaign headquarters. The senator "just expressed his opinion that the ad had missed the whole point and he was dissatisfied with it, and the person he was talking to had no control over the ad either," Hourahan said.

"If people thought this was an ad done by Senator Chafee or his campaign, that would be incorrect," said NRSC spokesman Dan Ronayne. He said an NRSC "independent expenditure unit" controls the content, timing and message, and Chafee "has no input. If he did, he would break the law."

The NRSC and the Chafee campaign have been working very closely, as is shown by Chafee meeting with an NRSC member at his campaign office. At the very least Chafee must have known about the fact that a Matricula ad was coming – the points made in the ad are all points that Chafee has made repeatedly on the campaign trail and in the debates. There’s a single script there.

I don’t like the idea of Matricula cards being used as ID, but if many state and local governments do accept it as such, it’s hard to argue that Cranston shouldn’t. Until it is outlawed, we have to live with it. Lincoln Chafee is a Senator – if he feels that strongly about the Matricula card issue, he should introduce legislation to ban it. And if I was a Senator, and an ad came out like that, I’d bite the bullet, denounce it publicly, and demand that it be taken down. I would publicly state that although that demand could be construed as “cooperation” and therefore illegal, I feel so strongly about the issue that I’d be willing to deal with whatever consequences came of my request. If Chafee had done that, he’d be considered a hero in the Latino community.

Instead, he comes up with some lame attempt to deflect the attention from himself: "During the debate, Senator Chafee called the attack ad accurate, and now that the ad has run its course, he is conveniently changing his mind," said Laffey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik. "Rhode Islanders deserve a senator who knows where he stands, not a senator who keeps changing his mind."

Chafee likewise accused Laffey of a flip-flop. "Three months ago, [Laffey] was in favor of consular cards," Chafee said. But now, "he doesn't call them immigrants any more. They're aliens. That's a flip-flop. He calls them aliens. That's the main point I want to make."

Huh? If anyone can explain that “main point” that Chafee wanted to make, please e-mail me.