Ted Cruz ad uses scorpion to represent Islamic terror threat

Warning: If you live in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada; have a fear of scorpions and are planning to watch tonight’s primetime Republican presidential debate on CNN, you may want to look away from your TV during the commercials.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz plans to run a campaign ad featuring a scorpion crawling in the desert — the tea party favorite’s metaphor for what he says is the Islamic terror threat lurking in the Middle East.

“There’s a scorpion in the desert,” a voice-over announces at the beginning of the 30-second spot. “For most of us, its venom is a clear and deadly threat, but others refuse to even speak its name.”

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“Others” would be the Obama administration, which has refused to use the term “radical Islamic terrorism” in reference to terrorists who use an ideology that an overwhelming majority of Muslims reject.

“Since the scorpion seeks our destruction, isn’t it time we recognize the scorpion for what it is before it strikes again?” Cruz’s ad continues.

The camera then focuses on the legs of a man — wearing a pair of boots similar to those preferred by the Republican candidate — who approaches the scorpion. The spot ends with the scorpion backing away.

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Cruz, who is not featured in the ad, eventually voices his approval.

A spokesman for the Texas senator told the New York Times the “Scorpion” ad will run on CNN during the debate as well as the Fox News Channel during its post-debate analysis.

Cruz’s “Scorpion” ad, the Times notes, is almost a “line-by-line” remake of the “Bear” ad that ran during Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign.

In Reagan’s ad, a grizzly bear was used to depict the threat posed to the United States by the Cold War-era Soviet Union.

“There’s a bear in the woods,” the narrator says in that ad. “For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all.”