Herman Cain throws a hunk of red meat to the tea party in Web ad

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain released an online ad this week attacking President Obama by compiling just about every edited video clip in the tea party playbook, complete with cameos from Mao Zedong and Hugo Chavez.

Cain's video plays like a Internet time warp, taking viewers on a journey through the past two years of viral conservative web videos released during the national debate over Obama's stimulus plan and the health care law. Played over a "Dark Side of the Moon"-style heartbeat soundtrack and spliced with pictures of tea party rallies, the ad re-introduces a hodgepodge of out-of-context clips straight from Glenn Beck's library: Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia, the First Lady saying that her husband's presidency is the "first time" in her adult life that she has been proud of her country, Obama listening to the national anthem without his hand to his heart, White House communication adviser Anita Dunn calling Mao Zedong one of her "favorite philosophers" and Obama calling the Constitution an "imperfect document."

After a montage of video footage featuring Mao destroying Christian statues and incendiary-sounding quotes from liberal power brokers, text appears on the screen asking the viewer "What is your vision for America? For your children? For your grandchildren?" And the ad's final tagline reminds voters that "in 2012 ... You have a choice to make between two very different visions for America..."

"The United States of America is not going to be become the United States of Europe," Cain declares. "Not on our watch."

The video's content suggests that Cain, who has long acted as a voice of the tea party in the South through his Atlanta-based radio show, will continue to paint himself as the candidate for the movement. While he may have some competition in the race for the tea party mantle from other tea party celebrities such as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, it's difficult to see any of the other candidates going this far to achieve it.

You can watch the full video here: