This ad is one of those classic stupid impact ads that we see every year, I think it's a bad ad.
That being said, the stink isn't that it's cheesy or petty, it's that it's "racist". I had no idea what they were talking about until Russert explained it at the end of the clip. Watch the clip until the ad plays through then pause it......then see if you can see what's "racist" about it. Un-pause the video and Russert will explain it. Do you see the racism?
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Russert-Mehlman-Fordad-10-23-06.wmv
it the one titled "Is Ken Mehlman kidding? We should ask Harold Ford"
As a note, the reference to the girl is that Ford apparently went to some stripper/Playboy party or something and they're giving him a hard time about it.
EDIT******
I changed the title, I gave the wrong video title, scroll down the page to "Is Ken Mehlman kidding? We should ask Harold Ford"