Dancing Frank Parodied in Bielat Ad

An ad for Sean Bielat, the Republican challenger to U.S. representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, features a dancing woman wearing a fat suit and dressed in a shirt and tie to argue that the out congressman "dances around the issues."

The New York Times reports on the ad, which is being produced by Ladd Ehlinger Jr., who earlier this year made an Internet ad for Dale Peterson, a long-shot, gun-toting candidate for Alabama agriculture commissioner. The new ad for Bielat features a Boston-area dance instructor named Kira, who did not want to provide her last name.

"The premise of the spot was simple enough -- Mr. Frank 'is dancing around the issues all the time, so you take the political cliche of he's dancing around the issues, and you literally have him dancing around the issues,' Mr. Ehlinger explained -- but it took a trip to J.C. Penney (to find an outfit befitting a politician), a stop at a nearby costume shop (for a mask that would later be spray-painted green) and finding a local dancer ('can do contemporary moves and 1970s disco moves,' read the Twitter message seeking applicants) before they were ready to go," reported the Times.

When the ad is finished, Frank's head will be imposed on Kira's body using computer-generated imagery. One 30-second ad will appear on television and two longer spots will be posted to the Internet.

According to the Times, Bielat wanted to take care not to seem antigay with the ad, which appears to include Frank gyrating among disco balls.

He told the dancer in a visit to the studio, "I think it was great. You were awesome. The only thing I want to ask is, don't do the feminine stuff, you know what I mean? You know where I'm going with this, but I don't want anyone to say, 'Oh, they're homophobic.'"

Harry Gural, a spokesman for Frank, said he did not think the ad was respectful.