It’s understandable that the National Republican Senatorial Committee would throw sharp elbows in a new attack ad against Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). But whether it elected to add some extra digits remains murky.

In the video ad, Tester is shown collegially backslapping President Barack Obama. The only problem is, the image would have to be of a Tester doppelganger — one who escaped his youth with all 10 fingers.

“Jon lost three fingers in an accident working on his family farm when he was a boy. Did Congressman Dennis Rehberg and his Washington friends at the NRSC spend their millions to give him his fingers back?” Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy wondered.

On further examination, it’s conceivable that the left hand in question belongs to an otherwise unseen gentleman hidden behind Tester in the video, which only shows Tester as a cut-out figure. The only way to see this is to view the original photograph of Tester and Obama that was used in the video.

Editorial gaffe or not, NRSC Communications Director Brian Walsh dared Tester to refute the substance of their message. “We appreciate Senator Tester’s camp helping us draw more attention to our ad and note that they don’t dispute its central message — which is that after campaigning against lobbyists in 2006, Senator Tester is the No. 1 recipient of their campaign contributions in this Congress,” Walsh said.

Watch the ad: