Almost everyone** is now claiming to be offended by attack ads in the governor's race.

Indian tribes, cops, prosecutors, and even a lobbyist have all registered shock that campaign ads are telling lies or painting candidates in an unfavorable light. The candidates also expressed their outrage over each others' ads in last night's debate.

Now you can add mail carriers to that list.

The National Letter Carriers Union (NLCU) National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) says it is angry over a new Republican Governors Association ad targeting Gov. Chris Gregoire over monitoring of sex offenders.

In the ad, a concerned mother is shown worrying about her daughter's safety with all the sex offenders roaming the streets.

A man walking dogs and a letter carrier wearing sunglasses appear in the ad, standing near children gathered by an ice cream truck. Over spooky music, the mother intones "We know they're out there, but thanks to Gregoire, we have no idea where."

The NLCU NALC fired off a press release today calling the ads "beneath contempt" and called on the RGA to take them down.

NALC President William H. Young said in the release:

"It is ludicrous and shameful that the Republican Governors Association would stoop so low as to portray America's most trusted government agents in this manner just to pump up a specious political argument against the incumbent governor."

But Chris Schrimpf, spokesman for the RGA, e-mailed me to say Young has it all wrong and that the RGA has "the utmost respect for letter carriers." The mailman in the ad, said Schrimpf, is helping the mother look out for her daughter by keeping an eye on the creepy guy walking the dogs.

Said Schrimpf:

"It's disappointing that the head of the National Letter Carrier's Union chose to misconstrue our ad in an attempt to help his preferred candidate."

The letter carriers union, which represents 300,000 city letter carriers, is politically active and has endorsed Democrats including Barack Obama for President and Darcy Burner for Washington's 8th Congressional District.

No word yet from the ice cream truck driver or dog walker unions.

**Except for the News Tribune's Peter Callaghan, who doesn't buy all the faux outrage and says those involved in political campaigns should "stop whining."