Republicans Press Celebrity Attack on Obama

Despite some criticism over ad calling Obama a celebrity, the McCain campaign stands by the message

By Liz Halloran

August 1, 2008 RSS Feed Print
Screen grab from Sen. McCain's "Celeb" TV ad against rival Sen. Obama.

Screen grab from Sen. McCain's "Celeb" TV ad against rival Sen. Obama.

Expected GOP nominee John McCain may be buried under an avalanche of criticism over his "Celeb" ad that compares the popularity—and heft—of Democratic rival Barack Obama to that of celebutants Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, but his campaign advisers are feeling just fine about the ad's reception.

"It's a very good spot," one McCain adviser told U.S. News, and "a credit" to the campaign's new mastermind—Karl Rove acolyte Steve Schmidt, whom McCain elevated to top dog a month ago.

Schmidt was put in charge amid increasingly bitter criticism by GOP leaders that the McCain campaign lacked focus and was always back on its heels, in a permanent defensive posture. Schmidt's hand can be seen not only in the series of more aggressive and negative ads but also in an increasing effort to keep the freewheeling McCain focused on a disciplined message.

The campaign, the adviser says, is "much stronger than it was a month ago."

Meanwhile, the back and forth continued between the two campaigns over whether Obama injected race into the contest by suggesting that McCain and Republicans are trying to "scare" voters by noting that the Democratic candidate doesn't look like past presidents and "has a funny name." The Obama campaign has launched a website dubbed Low Road Express to chronicle what campaign strategist David Plouffe called McCain's efforts at "Swift-boating" the Democrat.

McCain, Plouffe told reporters yesterday, is embracing the "Rove playbook that people are tired of."

The McCain camp continues to claim that Obama injected race into the narrative by linking McCain to comments he's never made about Obama's race or name.

And this morning, the Republican National Committee showed just how worried the party is about backlash over the "Celeb" ad. It launched a website, Who Said It: Celebrity Edition, that features a guessing game about quotes by Obama and celebrities like Madonna and Cameron Diaz. So it goes.

Tags:
presidential election 2008,
John McCain,
Barack Obama,
campaigns,
republican party

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If a black, conservative Republican were on the ticket, I would love to see what the libs and their buddies in the media would be saying about race!

Oh yes, I was a white guy raised on the south side of Chicago when there was no crime, no gangs, no public school kids getting murdered. What a difference a few goody-two-shoe white liberals and a community organizer can make!

Bernie of IL 6:37PM September 07, 2008

JOHN McCAIN'S DELIRILOUS ATTACKS ON OBAMA CAN BE EXPLAINED.

McCAIN AND HIS GROUP ARE A BUNCH OF SINKING SWIMMERS.NORNALLY A DROWNING MAN HAS ONE CRITICAL CHOICE,TO STAY ALIVE BY GRAPPING WHATEVER HE CAN HOLD ON TO.McCAIN SEES THE ATTACKS AS A VERY STRONG LIFE LINE,WITHOUT WHICH THEIR FATE COULD BE FORETOLD WITH A HIGHER DEGREE OF CERTAINTY.IS A NATURAL INSTINCT. ACTUALLY McCAIN'S CAMPAIGN DRIFTED INTO A CRAMP-PAIN,AND FEW CHANGES WERE MADE IN ORDER TO GET A PAIN KILLER.THE ONLY PAIN

LESSENING AND STRAIGHTEN REMEDY AVAILABLE WAS THE ATTACKS,NOT THE ISSUES THAT MATTERED MOST.ONLY FEW SHALLOW MINDED PEOPLE WILL FALL INTO McCAIN'S MANIPULATION CAULDRON.

McCAIN'S GROUP FROM THE ATTACKS ARE BASICALLY SAYING," SINCE WE CANNOT GET HIM IN ANYWAY,JUST THROW THE SH--T ON HIS FACE ,S HE CAN SMELL".THE BOOMERANG HERE IS THAT,THE ATTACKS HAVE BECAME A PERSONALITY MEASURING METER.CLEARLY THE ATTACKS SHOW THE PERSONALITIES OF ALL INVOLVED.IT SHOWS HOW LOW THE GROUP CAN CONDESCEND TO SHIFT A MEASURING SCALE ON WHICH THEY ARE NOT WEIGHING MUCH.

THE "X" FACTORS IN JOHN McCAIN'S BARGAINING BASKET SHOULD INVOKE CRITIAL APPRAISALS ON HIS BID FOR THE HIGHEST POST IN THE MOST FREE AND CIVILIZED WORLD.JOHNNY IS KNOWN TO BE IMPULSIVE,HOTHEADED AND HOT TEMPERED.THESE INGREDIENTS ARE VERY

UNSTABLE AND CAN CATALYZE ANY SITUATION INTO A CHAOTIC ONE.WE HAVE LOST MANY CHERISHED YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ALREADY.THE PAINS CANNOT BE SIMPLY BLANKETED WITH THE LOVE OF COUNTRY.YES THE PAIN COULD BE TAKEN IN JUSTIFIED SITUATIONS,NOT WITH A WASTEFUL

AND SENSELESS WAR.A WAR WE WERE MANIPULATED INTO."ENOUGH IS ENOUGH".SINCERELY, I AM SORE AFRAID JOHNNY COULD DRAG US INTO ANOTHER ONE.OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN HAVE FULL RIGHT TO LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES.WE CANNOT AFFORD TO WASTE THEM ANYMORE.

THE POST OF A USA PRESIDENT IS NOT A PICNIC CAMP.

CAN JOHNNY AT HIS AGE WITH STAND THE RIGORS AND THE STRESS OF THE OFFICE? I HOPE McCAIN WILL RUN A CAMPAIGN ON THE ISSUES THAT MATTER MOST TO AMERICANS.THE ATTACKES ARE MANIPULATIVE AND UNDER RATES PEOPLE'S INTELLIGENCE

of MD 2:16AM August 09, 2008

Perhaps I stand alone. I see a humorous paradigm. The fact remains Paris, Britney, and Lindsey have all given us a window in which everything they do is presented as news. As they preformed for the cameras, they are the medias little darlings. Just as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. The last President to have such attention from the news media, they looked the other way. Just as members of his Secret Service staff did. At least the Senator from Illinois, has kept his pants on. And as far as we know is wearing his undergarments.

Alan L Boles of FL 3:34PM August 04, 2008

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