Bob McCarty Writes

John McCain‘s latest campaign advertisement, “Chicago Machine,” is drawing varied reactions from reporters and pundits across Chicagoland this morning.

Click to visit the Clout Street blog.

Under the headline, McCain ad: Obama product of ‘corrupt’ Chicago machine, an post on the Chicago Sun-Times web site merely asks readers in Barack Obama‘s hometown to “Watch the video on Lynn Sweet’s blog and tell us what you think of the ad and whether you think Obama is a product of the ‘machine.’”

The Chicago Tribune‘s John McCormick describes the spot as “One of the toughest ads yet” and opines that “the timing of the ad is somewhat ironic in that last week Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich warned Obama he was falling into a Republican trap by siding against the governor’s rewrite of a state ethics reform bill.”

Jump to the Tribune‘s Clout Street blog and, if you’re like me, you’ll find the graphics (above right) that appear on the same page with the Rick Pearson post perhaps more effective in the long run for the McCain camp than the new ad.

In a post at his Marathon Pundit blog, John Ruberry of Morton Grove, Ill. (a.k.a., “Rezkoland”) concurs with the ad’s message, writing this:

“I agree. It’s only a thirty second spot, so the ad couldn’t get all the other villains in, such as Todd Stroger and Alexi Giannoulias. Perhaps they’re being saved for a future spot.”

More to come, I’m sure.