There has been a good deal of speculation about why the Democratic National Committee is airing commercials on Madison television stations, attacking President Bush's practice of deceiving the American people about matters of war and peace.

The ads, which made their national debut on local television Monday, argue that George W. Bush played fast with the facts to make his "case" for war with Iraq.

This is not news to the people of Madison, Stoughton, Mount Horeb, Spring Green, Baraboo or the region's other communities.

Before the war started, south-central Wisconsin displayed its skepticism about Bush's arguments. People in this part of the country were smart enough to recognize that the president was more interested in going to war than in leveling with the American people. And they responded accordingly.

Large anti-war demonstrations were held not just in Madison but in small cities and towns across the region. Thousands of letters, calls and e-mails were directed to our representatives in Washington. U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., was one of the first members of the Senate to question the case for war. U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, emerged as one of the House's most consistent foes of the president's misguided agenda. U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, led congressional efforts to get a better explanation for why war was necessary.

In other words, it would not appear that people in this region, or their elected officials, need to be told that Bush bent the truth to the breaking point as he tried to whip up support for war.

So why spend money to air the ads here? Why not put them on air in Texas or some other state where folks have been slower to see through Bush's claims?

Could it be that national leaders of the Democratic Party, who did a miserable job of challenging Bush's rush to war, now want to convince Wisconsinites that they have developed a backbone?

Here's a good test for the Democrats: If they are really sincere about challenging Bush, why don't they air these ads in St. Louis, where former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., failed to challenge Bush's rush to war? And why not air ads in Hartford, where they could ask why U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., continues to defend a war that looks to have been launched on lies?

It is good that national Democrats have finally begun to distinguish themselves from the Bush administration on issues related to the war. But it is silly to do so as a public relations gambit.

If Washington Democrats want to impress Wisconsinites, they must aggressively challenge Bush in the House and the Senate. They do not need to buy television commercials that tell people here what they already knew about Bush's troubles with the truth.

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