John McCain sure didn’t think through his latest campaign ad very well. In it, he pokes fun at Barack Obama by claiming he’s the world’s biggest celebrity after Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. The McCain camp says it’s supposed to be funny, but it really isn’t. I’m not saying it’s not funny in the sense of “this is very serious stuff; you shouldn’t joke.” It’s just flat-out dumb and not very creative. It isn’t funny. And it’s clear they’re trying to paint Obama as some sort of frivolous dilettante with that ridiculous comparison.

What they really forgot to consider was that the Hilton family donated to McCain’s campaign. And now Kathy Hilton is pretty damn pissed.

If John McCain thought it was tough battling Barack Obama, let’s see how he likes having an angry mom to contend with as well! Paris Hilton’s mom, Kathy, is furious with McCain for picking on her little girl in a TV ad aired last week. McCain says the spot painting his rival as ‘just another celeb’ like Paris or Britney, was meant to be funny — but Momma Hilton doesn’t see the joke.

”It is a complete waste of the country’s time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs,” Kathy said on the Huffington Post Web site. ”And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next president of the United States.” And McCain shouldn’t be expecting another check from the Hiltons in the post either.

Kathy and her husband donated $4,600 to his campaign this year, but she said the ad was ”a complete waste of the money John McCain’s contributors have donated to his campaign,” according to the New York Times.

[From OK!]

Obviously McCain isn’t the first person to publicly make fun of Paris. But it is pretty damn tacky to take nearly $5,000 from someone and then turn around and make fun of their daughter. It was a stupid ad that the McCain camp clearly thought was clever, but at best was absolutely banal. At worst it was insulting. They should have spent that $4,600 on an ad agency that actually has a little bit of creativity.

Header image of Kathy and Paris Hilton at the “Can Can” Perfume Photocall at Selfridges in London on May 15, 2008. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is making fun of his Democratic opponent Barack Obama’s vast popularity by comparing him to celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. In a new television ad for McCain they show shots of the 200,000 people gathered to hear Obama speak in Berlin last week with people shouting “Obama! Obama!” over the footage. The narrator says that Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world, but asks if he’s ready to lead. The camera cuts to photos of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and the narrator claims that Obama will raise taxes – which isn’t true for most people, and that he’s against offshore drilling.

No one yelled “Obama! Obama!” in Berlin, I was there
I live in Berlin and I was at Obama’s speech that day – you may have noticed because the site wasn’t updated much that afternoon. No one was shouting “Obama! Obama!” at all. I tried to do it, but the Germans didn’t pick it up and just stood and sat there patiently listening to music ahead of the speech.

Obama’s speech in Berlin was too moderate for my taste
I wasn’t entirely happy with Obama’s speech. He focused on security and the need to send troops into Afghanistan and to fight terrorism. (Here’s a transcript of his speech if you missed it) I’m a liberal and I want to see the troops withdrawn from Iraq, something Obama has promised under a 16 month timetable, and the focus put back on domestic and economic issues. I believe that terrorism is best dealt with swiftly behind the scenes. Yes there is a huge problem with terrorism, but we only give the extremist groups the attention they want by acting scared and focusing on them in the media. It gives them power when we talk about them. I wanted to hear what he’s going to do to make sure people can afford to stay in their homes and drive their cars.

I will be voting for Obama because McCain has pretty much stated that we’ll be in Iraq forever and you can bet that it will be four more years of Bush’s policies with that guy. Obama does get too much adoration and I don’t really like the way he seems to be courting the celebrity press. He seemed genuinely surprised that he was criticized for allowing his daughters to be interviewed on camera for Access Hollywood, though, and I think that he’s just flying by the seat of his pants and assuming that all positive press is helpful.

Today I asked JayBird to cover the story about Michelle Obama’s interview with People because I’m kind of burnt out on the guy. I thought he was a liberal and it turns out he’s a lot more moderate. That’s probably what will get him elected, and lefties like me will still vote for him so it’s a win-win.

Obama will lower your taxes compared to McCain if you make less than 112k
McCain’s assertion in this ad that Obama will raise taxes is not correct. If you’re one of the 90% of Americans who makes less than 112k a year, Obama will provide you much more of a tax break than McCain. If you make more than 112k a year, or are a corporation, you save more with taxes under McCain.

Obama has issued a response to McCain’s ad. A spokesman said, “On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Sen. McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another. Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again.’” We know which side has a sense of humor along with a better grasp of the media.

Yesterday Angelina Jolie’s dad Jon Voight’s wrote a pretty wild op-ed published in the conservative paper The Washington Times in which he said that Obama is a bad candidate because of his radical minister or teachers or whatever. We’ve heard that argument before and it’s weak. I wonder if Voight’s piece will push his daughter away even further. Angelina has said that she’s not behind a specific candidate and is waiting to see who she likes, but I can’t see her voting for McCain. And I would rather focus on Angelina’s relationship with her dad than McCain vs. Obama. The stakes are so much higher in the Presidential race than some celebrity’s feud with their family, and it can be stressful and a little mind-boggling to consider the ramifications of the election. It’s hard to imagine how the economy could get much worse than it has, but it’s surely possible.

Thanks to US Weekly for this ad and to Kaiser for the tip on Voight’s op-ed.

The thought of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt spending time in a war zone is pretty appealing to most people. But the possibility of them somehow getting a little bit of good publicity is utterly sickening. The disgusting duo are pimping out their new friendship with (presumed) republican presidential candidate John McCain’s daughter Meghan, and are trying to use their new connections to finagle a trip to Iraq.

… Senator John McCain — or at least his daughter — has certainly struck up a friendship with a Hollywood celebrity — who’s none other than Heidi Montag. The Hills star, who has voiced her support for the Republican presidential hopeful, has been in close contact with Sen. McCain’s daughter, Meghan.

“She’s very sweet,” Heidi tells Extra. “We have a lot in common.” That includes their support of the troops. Meghan is trying to engineer a trip to Iraq for Heidi and fiancé Spencer Pratt. “Her dad definitely has some pull with the military,” Spencer says. “I think she’s going to put that together for us.”

Heidi is determined to entertain the troops overseas as her late stepbrother Eric O’Hara served in the 82nd Airborne Division. He wasn’t killed during duty, but passed in a freak accident back home in Colorado. “My brother was an airborne ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq,” she says. “It’s very important to me and important to Spencer to support the troops and go over there.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Oh please. Don’t make this sound like anything more than what it really is: more fodder for your pathetic “celebrity.” I’ve never seen any couple set up more obvious, cheesy, and trite photo ops in my life. Heidi and Spencer on a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park! Heidi and Spencer catching a fly ball at the baseball game! Heidi and Spencer running through a field of daisies!

Look I appreciate supporting the troops, but that’s clearly not what this is. And it’s just crass for Heidi to use her deceased stepbrother to make it sound like something deeper than what it is. You want your pictures on the pages of OK! And you’re desperate to be taken seriously; but the harder the two of you try, the worse you look. Just give up, make your sex tape, get into some minor-league legal trouble and fade into oblivion with the rest of the Q-list celebs.

Here’s Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt having lunch on Robertson Boulevard in L.A. on Friday. Don’t you pose like that when you eat? It looks ever so natural. Images thanks to PR Photos.

A few months ago Heidi Montag loudly proclaimed that she was a proud republican and voting for John McCain. Oh, and a really, really big Christian. Now this all came as a surprise for a few reasons. First, the thought that Heidi Montag even understood that there are two political parties in this country – and could name them – was nothing short of heart-stopping. Then she actually remembered the name of the presumptive nominee. It made you really question just how stupid she was. Instead of being bumble bee dumb, it turns out she’s only like… Jessica Simpson dumb. Which is definitely at least two notches against being as dumb as a bug. I have no idea where I’m going with this.

Anyway, John McCain thanked Heidi for her support, and publicly professed his love of The Hills. I can totally see McCain lounging around on a Sunday night watching reruns on MTV3 while drinking some kind of fruity beverage that comes in a can. Now it seems that Heidi, 22, (or more likely Spencer) is trying to work the political angle in some way. She was spotted having lunch with McCain’s 24-year-old blogger daughter Meghan yesterday.

Heidi Montag had a lunch date with John McCain’s daughter Meghan.

The two were photographed outside the Ivy on the Shore restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday. Montag, 21, and Meghan, 23, even shared a hug before departing.

They definitely had stuff to talk about.

In April, Usmagazine.com broke the news of Montag (who just registered to vote) endorsing John McCain as president.

“I’m a Republican, and McCain has a lot of experience,” she told Us.

John McCain returned the favor, telling Time: “I’m honored to have Heidi’s support, and I want to assure her that I never miss an episode of The Hills.”

[From Us Weekly]

Does anybody else find this as absolutely horrifying as I do? What could possibly be the reason for this? I bet you anything Heidi is angling for some sort of cabinet position. I mean really, what in the world could possibly be going on here? Is Meghan McCain really so hard up for friends that she’ll take any tramp off the street to lunch? I’m really horrified at the thought that the McCain campaign might try to use Heidi to lock in some sort of idiot youth vote. Not that young people who vote are idiots, or that young republicans are necessarily idiots… but anyone who’d place any value on one of the twelve thoughts in Heidi Montag’s head is definitely an idiot.

I am so scared at what kind of political commercials I’m going to be seeing in the next few months. Something tells me it’ll involve Heidi, Spencer, some type of photogenic picnic with several types of freshly cut melons, and an elephant. Oh and John McCain just happens to saunter by. Hilarity ensues.

Here’s Heidi Montag at the re-launch of PinkIsTheNewBlog.com at S Bar in Hollywood on June 11th; Photographer: Rachel Worth. Image thanks to WENN.; and Meghan McCain at the White House Correspondents Dinner in D.C. on April 28th.

Republican Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain, 71, was on the Ellen DeGeneres show this morning, and he told her in a somewhat roundabout way that he doesn’t support full marriage rights for same sex couples. Ellen announced last week after the landmark decision by the California Supreme Court legalizing same sex marriage that she would marry her longterm partner, Portia de Rossi.

McCain was respectful in his response and measured, but he pretty much said he’ll never support full rights for same sex couples:

McCain: “I think that people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas. Decisions that have to be made. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between a man and woman and I think that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue.”

Ellen: “Yeah, it is looked at and some people are saying the same – that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. Women just got the right to vote 1920, blacks didn’t have the right to vote until 1870, and it just feels like there’s this old way of thinking that we are not all the same. We are all the same people, all of us. You’re no different than I am. Our love is the same.

“To me, what it feels like… I will speak for myself. It feels when someone says you can have a contract and you’ll get insurance and you’ll get all that. It sounds to me like saying “Well you can sit there, you just can’t sit there.” That’s what it sounds like to me. It doesn’t feel inclusive. It feels isolated… like we are not owed the same things. In wording.”

McCain: “Well, I’ve heard you articulate that position in a very eloquent fashion. We just have a disagreement and I, along with many many others, wish you every happiness.”

Ellen: “So you’ll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you’re saying?”

McCain: “Touché.”
[Transcribed from video shown above.]

I’ve said this before, but I don’t dislike McCain as a person. I don’t agree with his politics at all, but I admire the way the man has handled himself for years. He comes across like he has integrity, and as Obama often mentions, McCain is a genuine war hero.

Ellen really brought the point home when she said McCain’s position was an “old way of thinking.” The guy is 71, and he comes across like this doddering old grandfather set in his ways. He was on The Regis & Kelly show a couple weeks ago and he told this long rambling story which seemed to have no point, and it just struck me like he’s not with it at all. I wish him well, but America doesn’t need another Republican in office for four more years, they need change and someone who will support the rights of everyone regardless of who they are and who they love.

We’re pretty much all Obama fans at Celebitchy, but I have to say I kind of like John McCain. I wouldn’t vote for a guy who would keep the troops in Iraq probably indefinitely, but I’ve often wondered what would have happened if McCain had secured the Republican nomination instead of Bush in 2000. He’s a lot more moderate and seems a hell of lot less obstinate. He’s also a cancer survivor, a decorated war hero who spent five and a half years in a POW camp and he has over 20 years experience as a senator. I think it’s not much of a logical leap to assume that the fate of America and the entire world would have been a lot rosier post 9/11 under McCain instead of Bush Jr. My response to a possible McCain presidency is a shrug, and we’ve certainly seen that there are much worse things that could happen.

We covered Obama on “The View” and Hillary on “Saturday Night Live,” so it’s only fair that we give McCain some coverage for his talkshow circuit interviews too. He was on The Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday night and he managed to poke fun at himself and generally come off as the decent guy he is. Damn him for being likable.

McCain walked on during Letterman’s monologue and responded to some jokes Letterman made about him. Letterman said McCain was like an old dude who worked at a hardware store and then McCain said Dave looked like a threat to society:

During Dave’s monologue, he goes off in the familiar tangent about Senator McCain: “How about that John McCain? McCain looks like the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys.
McCain looks like a guy who can’t stop talking about how well his tomatoes are doing.
McCain looks like a guy who goes out to but turpentine.
He looks like a guy who keeps growing hair out of new places.
McCain looks a guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash.”

And then . . . . Senator John McCain walks out and stands beside Dave.
McCain: “You think that stuff’s pretty funny, don’t you?
Well, you look like a guy whose laptop would be seized by authorities.
You look like a guy caught smuggling reptiles in his pants.
You look like a guy who neighbors later say, ‘mostly kept to himself.’
You look like the night manager of a creepy motel.
You look like a guy who enjoys getting into a hot tub and watching his swim trunks inflate.”
And then he exits. Paul and the band play “Soldier Boy.”

[Recap from CBS.com]

Here’s the clip of that segment:

And during his interview later in the show, McCain outlined his position on different issues that are important to the country, namely the economy and Iraq:

The Senator is looking forward to becoming President for many reasons; one being so he can see himself on “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches” every night.
With a camera on you 24/7, it’s not too surprising to find verbal screw-ups of a President from time to time. But with GW, it’s so easy.
Issues discussed:
The economy
– the problems are very serious
– millions in danger of losing their homes
– it’s important to get the lenders and the borrowers together to make a plan on how to fix their problem. A solution will benefit both.
– We need to re-educate our out-of-work workforce. We need to redesign our education system to fit today’s needs.
The War in Iraq
- The war itself was not a mistake, but it has been mismanaged.
- Any troop withdrawal should be driven by events on the ground and not by politics
Our respect around the world
- it’s down now, but it will come back. For example, the new France president Sarkozy is a big supporter of the United States

And the Senator promises to run a civil, clean campaign without the attacks and name-calling. It’s what the American people want and expect. Dave differs on this. The more attacks and dirty tricks in the campaign, the better. Dave can’t get enough of the good stuff like that.

[Recap from CBS.com]

In my opinion, America definitely needs the reform that would come with Obama as president. I’m not for Hillary and think she should step down after that bullshit Bosnia sniper story. She still has a lot of support and many people admire her stance on important issues and think she has the experience to effective run the country. In my opinion she’s only dividing the party, but time will tell. McCain isn’t a terrible alternative though. He wouldn’t make a bad president, I just don’t think he’d make enough of the changes the country so badly needs. It’s too bad he’s likable and normal though.