Seth Colter Walls, HuffingtonPost.com: For good or for ill, the "celebrity" meme is here to stay in the presidential race.
After John McCain's campaign attacked Barack Obama on the grounds that he's too popular for his own good -- and compared his celebrity to that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- Barack Obama's ad-makers have responded in kind. They had plenty of material to work with. As the Internet Movie Database shows, John McCain has guest-starred or lent cameos to four dozen different television programs, and not just those of the news variety: Saturday Night Live, WWF Raw and Entertainment Tonight have featured the Arizona Republican, as have all the major late-night comedians.
Thus, there existed a plentiful amount of celebrity b-roll for an Obama counter-attack, titled "Embrace":
With Barack Obama on vacation this week, perhaps it was the perfect time for Obama's campaign to release an attack ad that makes no mention of their candidate (a rarity, thus far). After all, he won't have to answer any process questions about the "tone" of the race. Or perhaps, just as former Sen. Tom Daschle said last week, Obama's advisers believe McCain's Paris Hilton ad did real damage.
Either way, the celebrity line of attack has become rather popular.
LSB: Popular maybe, but it just dumbs down the race to the lowest common denominator. Come on, Barack, you're better than stooping to the McCain tactics. Contrary to the GOP track record, it isn't the worst thing to be the smartest man in the room.
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