Rick Perry’s campaign has trotted out an unfunny anti-French radio ad attacking Chris Bell’s voting record in Congress. OK, some of the audio is cute, like the “Mr. Way Too Liberal for Texas Guy” theme song, borrowed from a Bud Light commercial. But then comes the tired and predictable: “You voted to let the United Nations oversee elections in America, because no one stands up for Democracy like the French! So wear your fancy beret with pride, Congressman Bell. Liberals everywhere salute you.”

Oh, please. Is this the same Rick Perry who said, “words matter,” when he tsk-tsked Kinky Friedman’s ethnic jokes? If Perry is so bent on using stereotypes to attack Bell, seems like a Mexican sombrero would be more 2006-ish because, as the radio ad points out, Bell is soft as brie (our words) on immigration.

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Amy Smith has been writing about Austin policy and politics for over 20 years. She joined The Austin Chronicle in 1996.