We'll always have Paris (any of them will do)

AUSTIN, Tex. -- As he has campaigned in Texas, Barack Obama has said that bilingualism should not just be for immigrants, but native English speakers, too. But a recurring TV ad from a fellow Democratic candidate suggests that appealing to Texans' latent cosmopolitanism might be tougher than he thinks.

In a highly contested state-legislative primary whose cable ads are crowding out presidential spots in Austin, challenger Brian Thompson has been bashing representative Dawna Dukes for missing key votes. In one case, "Dawna was on vacation in France," with an illustration of a plane traversing the Atlantic to Europe.

Yet the picture of an illuminated Eiffel Tower that Thompson shows to lampoon Dukes's jet-setting ways? It's from the Paris Las Vegas casino, with the buildings of the Strip visible in the background.