On the August 4 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan praised an attack ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that refers to Sen. Barack Obama as “The One” and claims “he has anointed himself.” Buchanan said that the ad “goes right to an enormous vulnerability that Barack has created for himself with his grandiosity. I mean, his sense that 'I am the Messiah. I am the one the world has been waiting for.' ” Echoing a comment he made last week, Buchanan referred to “that real question ... to be resolved -- because the issue in this campaign is Barack Obama” and said of Obama: “If he persuades Middle America he's the guy, he wins. So the real question has been, 'Who is this guy?' The question's now becoming, 'Who does this guy think he is?' ... I think that is the real question.”

As Media Matters for America noted, during the July 30 edition of MSNBC's Race for the White House, while commenting on an attack ad by the McCain campaign that refers to Obama's “celebrity,” Buchanan said: "[W]ho is he and who ... the heck does this guy think he is, is becoming a real issue for Barack Obama." Buchanan also accused Obama of “act[ing] like, you know, he thinks he is the Lord's gift to mankind.”

From the August 4 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: Pat, is that a game-changer?

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): Wow.

BUCHANAN: That is one of the best and funniest ads I have seen. The reason is, it makes you laugh. It is a hilarious ad, and it goes right to an enormous vulnerability that Barack has created for himself with his grandiosity. I mean, his sense that “I am the Messiah. I am the one the world has been waiting for.” And I think it is a terrific ad, and frankly, I think it's something where the people laugh at Barack Obama, which is not a good thing. It makes him the issue in the campaign, and as I said, it goes straight to a real vulnerability of his.

SCARBOROUGH: And, of course, we've been -- every time one of these statements have come out, I know [co-host] Willie [Geist] and I have flinched saying, “Gosh, why do you say, 'we are the ones' ” --

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: -- " 'we've been waiting for'?" and I'm -- yeah, and especially, the part in that ad where you really start laughing is when the crowds are screaming on their feet and he says, “And it will be remembered as a time that the Earth healed itself, and the skies” -- I mean, and he was serious.

BUCHANAN: Right.

BRZEZINSKI: OK, but here's the thing. George Will --

BUCHANAN: You know, Joe, the --

BRZEZINSKI: Go ahead -- Pat, George Will had a column yesterday saying he needs to retire some of those. I mean, it's just -- it's time for him to move on.

BUCHANAN: Oh, he's really got to. You know, we've been saying that the real question that to be resolved -- because the issue in this campaign is Barack Obama. If he persuades Middle America he's the guy, he wins. So the real question has been, “Who is this guy?” The question's now becoming, “Who does this guy think he is?”

[laughter]

BUCHANAN: And so, I think that is the real question.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, he --

BRZEZINSKI: Well --

GEIST: Yeah --

SCARBOROUGH: That is a -- that is a great --

GEIST: -- that's great.

SCARBOROUGH: -- turn of phrase and, you know, Pat, I think that's a very legitimate question.