Mike Huckabee has released a kinder, gentler political ad for the holiday season and it’s grabbing mainstream attention. No doubt that was the intent—getting more free air time. Huck gets to be all warm and fuzzy and conciliatory beside his Christmas tree.

That alone, of course, would not warrant all the attention. The buzz is about the ad’s background, specifically the glowing “cross” that appears to float behind this most Christian of candidates. It is impossible to miss, and impossible to dismiss.

It’s no accident that those shelves form a cross, or that a panning camera makes it appear to float, or that the lighting makes it glow. The trinity of Christmas balls on the shelf hammers home the message.

Subtle this ad ain’t. But I’m expecting any moment to hear Huck deny the symbolism and denounce the rampant imaginations of the critics. Or maybe he will just declare unctuously that God is making people see something that isn’t there. It’s only shelves, remember?

 

Editor’s Note: 3:30 pm — Sure enough, while I was writing, ABC was reporting Huckabee’s explanation: “That was a book shelf behind me, a book shelf.”