Have you heard Jim Webb's ad for Obama?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/in_his_first_ad_jim_webb_vouch.php

The Obama campaign goes up in Virginia with its first ad featuring Senator Jim Webb, who offers a strong and personal defense of Barack Obama on guns and assures Virginians that Obama will protect our country's "greatness."

....

"Our family tradition of hunting and shooting are a way of life to me, and no government will ever take that away," Webb says. "I am an NRA member and I know that my friend Barack Obama will protect our second amendment rights. So don't be misled about Barack Obama...I trust him to protect our right to keep and bear arms."

The repetition of the word "trust" is interesting, as is Webb's description of Obama as "my friend." Webb's military and gun cred are being pressed into service to deflect attacks on Obama as a risky unknown, and Webb is personally vouching for his fellow Senator.

Indeed, guns are really a proxy for the ad's meta-message, which is that Obama can be trusted to honor patriotic values and to keep America strong and great. "I trust him to stand with me to protect American jobs and our greatness as a nation," Webb says. "He's a good fit for me."