The history of US political attack ads has some breathtaking examples of the genre: George Bush senior's "revolving door prison" and Willie Horton ads, Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" nuclear cloud and the Swift Boat assault on John Kerry. But never has a candidate stooped so low as accuse his rival of wanting to kill dogs.
That changed this week when Pat Quinn, the Democratic governor of Illinois, ran an ad attacking his Republican opponent Bill Brady in a manner designed to chill the blood of America's dog lovers.
There's a standing joke in politics about running an ad saying "Vote for me or the kitten gets it," but this is perhaps the first time anyone has actually done it.
Using foreboding music, the ad says that Brady sponsored a bill in the Illinois state senate to "mass euthanize sheltered cats and dogs in gas chambers" - with the words "euthanize" and "gas chambers" spelled out in bold red capital letters over grainy black and white footage of puppies being dumped into a large metal bin.
The ad continues with clips of pet owners, clutching their dogs, reacting to the claim. "I'm a pretty staunch Republican. I will not be voting for Bill Brady. That's sick and wrong," says one woman.
Quinn, who replaced disgraced governor Rod Blagojevich after he was impeached in 2009, is trailing behind Brady in the latest polls. But the outcome remains uncertain and Quinn's ad follows a tradition of often bare-knuckle campaigning in Illinois.
But is it true? Up to a point, according to the PolitiFact website, which gives the claims a "half true" rating on its Fact-o-meter. "Our research suggests that the ad's summary of the issue is pretty accurate. But there are a couple of significant caveats that we think are worth noting," Politifact says.
In any case, the bill was quickly dropped by Brady after opposition from the US Humane Society and its allies.
The real question is whether the ad will work. While the British pride themselves on being a nation of dog lovers, in reality Americans far surpass Brits in venerating man's best friend – and Quinn is counting on them being horrified by Brady's bill.
