Maybe the Internet isn't quite ready for political prime time yet.

An ad placed by Republican John Thune's Senate campaign accidentally wound up appearing on private sites that weren't supposed to show it last week, including one with naked pictures of men that raised some eyebrows among Democrat Sen. Tom Daschle's campaign aides.

"Click here to join Students for Thune," the banner ad read. "It's time."

Thune's campaign bought the ad, running on top of some Internet sites, in an effort to reach South Dakota voters between 18 and 34 years old. The Students for Thune group aims to persuade them that Thune, not Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader, can best speak for younger voters.

Thune boasts of what he calls his "South Dakota values," including supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

So the Daschle campaign was quick to alert reporters when Democrats received an anonymous e-mail pointing out the Students for Thune banner ad on a site titled "Shirtless Just4U," which featured explicit pictures of men posing naked and in their underwear.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:20 AM | Basie! Home