McCain Compares Obama To Britney, Paris

Britney and Obama.

What do they have in common? They are vacuous celebrities, according to John McCain, who compares Britney Spears—oh, and Paris Hilton, too—to Barack Obama in a new attack ad.

The TV spot, which is called "Celeb," opens with images of Britney and Paris, then cuts to footage of Obama's speech in front of 200,000 people in Berlin last week. "He's the biggest celebrity in the world," a narrator says. "But is he ready to lead?"

Questioning Obama's ability to lead—okay, that's fair. If I was McCain, I'd probably take the same tact. But drawing parallels between Obama and the likes of Britney and Paris? That's just plain ridiculous, especially coming from McCain, who actually has ties to tabloid queen Heidi Montag. In fact, McCain's daughter Meghan is friends with The Hills star, and Montag recently endorsed McCain, telling Us magazine, "I'm a Republican, and McCain has a lot of experience."

McCain later told Time magazine, "I'm honored to have Heidi's support, and I want to assure her that I never miss an episode of The Hills."

How funny would it be if Obama's camp put out an ad quoting McCain on his love for The Hills and asked, "Is this the man you want running our country?"

Meanwhile, I have to wonder how Britney and Paris feel about their images being used in McCain's political ad. Then again, I suspect that neither one of them is even aware there is a presidential election coming up.

Obama's camp seems amused by the whole situation. Tommy Vietor, a spokesperson for Obama released a statement to MTV.com yesterday that read: "On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator 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.' "

That's funny!

Enough of my views. Now it is your turn. What do you think of McCain's ad? Is it smart or stupid?

(Getty Images)

Comments

[Gary Neeley]

This is not a commercial. this is a waste in campaign finances.

[mclean]

Yeah, Britany Spears is the first person I'd think of to compare Obama to. Not only is McCain a nitwit, so are all the people around him.

[john]

I think the ad was funny, it was just meant to highlight the fact that Obama has this celebrity cult status and that isnt going to get our real problems solved. The more important aspect to the ad was the fact that Obama still opposes offshore drilling. No other country in the world ignores its own resources. Canadians dont't pay less because of exploiting oil and gas but they certainly get huge tax benefits which are used to help ordinary people and they dont give all their money to fascist Saudi Arabia where textbooks teach children to hate gays, christians and jews.

[Bobby]

Yes, it is fair. If you act like a pop culture phenomenon, don't be surprised that someone compares you to one. Get over it and stop crying foul. The Obama camp has been comparing McCain to Bush for months, even though the two men are incredibly different.

And by the way, this is not a "scare tactic".

[Bobby]

Yes, it is fair. If you act like a pop culture phenomenon, don't be surprised that someone compares you to one. Get over it and stop crying foul. The Obama camp has been comparing McCain to Bush for months, even though the two men are incredibly different.

And by the way, this is not a "scare tactic".

[Bobby]

Yes, it is fair. If you act like a pop culture phenomenon, don't be surprised that someone compares you to one. Get over it and stop crying foul. The Obama camp has been comparing McCain to Bush for months, even though the two men are incredibly different.

And by the way, this is not a "scare tactic".

[Chris]

I didn't have a problem with the commercial. The "comparisons" of Britney and Paris are vastly overstated...they just appear for a flash at the beginning of the commercial -- to drive home the point that Obama is "the most famous celebrity in the world" (or something like that. In my view, the ad would have been better if McCain put some positive spin at the very end of the commercial. Or, added something like, "Is this what he means by change?"
In any event, when is the gay community going to wake-up and realize Obama is no friend of ours. He surrounds himself with anti-gay advisors--including James Meeks (also from Chicago) who is one of the "10 leading black religious voices in the anti-gay movement."

[John]

Obama doesnt really have significantly different views than McCain on gay issues. Neither Obama or McCain support gay marriage, but neither support Bush's desire for a federal marriage ammendment that would restrict marriage to one man and one woman. The iraq issue is off the table, both Obama and McCain are talking about time tables based on conditions on the ground, so energy is the main issue. Obama favours investing into wind.solar and corn ethanol, McCain favours more domestic drilling,nuclear power,wind, solar,all forms of ethanol, not just corn, which isnt efficient. McCain's plan is more comprehensive and more likely to help out in the next 10-15 years.

[nmkunz]

I think that our country is scared to have a president they can be proud of. Just because there are people involved in the campaign that have certain views and/or beliefs does not mean that Obama is to be in favor of the same views. I appreciate the fact that he (Obama) has a way of inspiring people. That tells me that it is not going to be just the government that changes our economy but the people to make better choices to turn things around for our economy. and the way to do that is to inspire the people. I can't say the same for Senator McCain.

[wtf ?]

I'm more concerned about the Ludacris "white hate" rap and the fact that Obama is "in bed" with this guy so to speak. I have heard gay people say that McCain "hates us"(the man doesn't know me) but where does Obama stand ? Does anyone truely know ?

[whoisthat]

Who is that woman is the pic with Obama at the top? Thats is not Britney Spears, if that's who its supposed to be.

[Jack]

"Not only is McCain a nitwit, so are all the people around him."

Spoken like a well-informed, intellectual, deep thinking, Obama supporter. Hope and Change Inc!
But of course Obama the savior of humanity is going to bring peace, love, and prosperity, right? Just deal with the fact that both candidates are run-of-the-mill politicians and not much more.

[Jack]

I love how this is characterized as "an attack ad." Isn't all campaigning pretty much nothing more than a series of "attacks?" Throw in "racist" too, that would make your faux shock and anger sound even more substantive.

[montynorth]

Offshore drilling? Obama has the sensible position. You don't cure an addiction by growing more poppies at home. More than thirty years ago, President Clinton had an energy independence plan that would have done away with foreign oil by the 1990s. President Regan tore it up. The American people just don't want to kick that oil habit and some folks will listen first to anyone who will tell them they don't have to.

As for this "Obama the Celebrity" thing, it is yet another example of how desperate and clueless the McCain campaign is getting. It's been one botch and mistatement after another. Just imagine how he would run the country!

[citizen]

Hmmm.....I know all the gay Log Cabins demand and get to keep as much money as possible. 100% - if you could.

However, the truth is Obama will ONLY tax $250,000 @ a rate of 30% - that's pretty damn good - considering ppl who make $36,000 are paying just below that rate.

Okay now, you love being Repubs - kewl.

Please vote for McSame.

- Watch McSame do a screw job on your 401K, and your Stock porfoilo - your money in the bank.

You know the money you use for Friday night getting laid? --Watch it hit 0% funded at the ATM, because you could not run fast enough to both your bank AND your stock broker when both failed.

I hope after voting for McSame, you are practicing your fast dash to the bank. Over and over.

IF YOU
LOVE YOUR MONEY -- I MEAN IF YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR MONEY, VOTE for Barrack -- better to be taxed @ 30%, than LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY - 100% and your shirt.

PS. And, NOT getting laid because your broke! Now wouldn't that suck?!

[SuperCFL]

The ad is fantastic! It depicts the typical young Obama supporter who get their news from sources like Perez Hilton, TMZ, and GDC who all treat Obama as if he's the second coming or some kind of rock star. Funny, I've yet to see a slamming article in GDC about Obama's stance on gay marriage, but that's another story. The ad goes on to show how Obama's lack of a plan to solve our dependency on foreign oil by showing his refusal to drill off shore, in Alaska, or in Colorado. All he offers is pipe dreams of "alternative sources of energy" which all are decades away from being cost efficient, then Obama lies about how long it would take to get oil out of our own soil sighting it would take 10 years, when energy experts all over America say it would take as little as two. This issue is a huge one for Republicans and is the reason Obama is slightly ahead in the polls in registered voters and behind McCain in the "likely voters" poll. Again, the ad is right on target showing the uninformed voters that support Obama, then hits home with the facts. It's about time McCain hit hard with the truth.

[lmchimere]

A Scare Tactic? Dirty Politics? I wish that politics were usually this genteel. Even though I am a registered Democrat, I am disgusted and disheartened by the Obama's desire to play bigger venues, with larger crowds, and develop this pop star drawing. I do not NEED to hear any more great words of encouragement, hope, etc. modeled and lifted from JFK or MLK. What I want is for a candidate to "get real", get down off his pedestal and get with the people, and provide me with some concrete and well reasoned facts. Say what you may about Hillary Clinton, at least when she spoke she gave the facts, the figures, and the her well-reasoned solutions.

[dc9076]

Obama has been attacking McCain for "being like Bush" for months and no one complains.

Now this ad is out with NO mention of those two celebrities (but very quick snapshot)...all of the sudden people are calling it a comparison...not to mention the "uproar" and "horror"

The message is that it takes more than popularity to lead. It is about choosing a position, clearly and directly providing details about what and how they are going to lead IF they win the election.

Upfront..I'm an undecided voter

[Me]

What do Britney Spears and Barrack Hussein Osama have in common? They're both look charming and charismatic when they read words that were written for them. One in movies, one on stage. But when it's their own words coming out of their own mouths, both look and sound utterly stupid. The only differences I can detect is that one sounds white genuinely. The other just pretend so to look smart. One being looked/talked down by her own kind, the other look/talk down to his!!! What a pathetic lil man.

[zarxo]

Regardless, neither one has the expertise to raise America from "this" slump. Either America will turn to intelligentsia, how ironic--the Russian term, for salvation or we will fail. As I do recall, our forefathers were scientists and mathmaticians first then they peformed as "governors." We are in a violent era, yet this is an opporunity for "a new generation" of thinkers. As we move back to basics, I trust that the Sciences and Arts will somehow break an entrance into politics. Leo Tolstoy shows us that, "huamanity is leading the wrong kind of life...[contrary]...he is also the average man of the prosperous middle classs of his time and ours, and he is confronted with disease, dying and death. He is an ordinary person, neither virtuous nor particularly vicious, a 'go-getter' in his profession, a 'family man,' as marriages go, who has children but has drifted apart from his wife. [He] is slowly awakened to self-conscousness and a realization of the falsity of his life and ambitions."

[Antonio]

Well, let's say Margaret Tatcher is a celebrity, Sarkozy is a celebrity, Mandela is a celebry AND THEY ALL ARE LEADERS. Having Obama on the presidence of USA would make that country a celebrity, and retake the moral leadership that the entire world is asking for. McCain is doing more good than bad, but for the Obama's campaing hahahaha Cheers from Mexico

[daniel]

im a bisexual male, predominately attracted to other males. I've voted democratic every election that i've been eligible to vote in. Yet, i can understand how one would compare obama to britney spears. It's all about substance. Barack Obama is all rhetoric and politics. Everything about Britney Spears' public life to this point, has been about substance. It pains me to say, despite a whole lot of reasons, i can't say with a good conscious that when i walk into that voters booth, im going to vote for the big "D". I don't know that i won't, but i can't say that i will.

[chris]

that isnt even britney spears in that picture!!
who the f**k is that??

[nortonnorton]

Yes!

Obama is Britney.
Obama is Paris.
I HATE Britney and Paris.
So, I also HATE Obama.

I am GAY, but, I don`t understand
why GAY supports Obama.

I admit that Obama is handsome and McCain is too old.
However Obama is shallow and McCain
is reliable.

Obama is but a vase and a butterfly.

[pinky]

pure nonsense!! i wonder who would give a damn about this 80 year old clown... he is a real clown!!!

[Jason]

Britney Spears is a Republican (she professes her devotion to Bush in the documentary "Fahrenheit 911" and how we should do everything he says)

[Me]

Hahahaha... Just got another one similarity between Britney and Hussein Osama off the Web. Both use smoke and mirrors to sell fantasies to Americans. One doing it in the performance of her songs. One doing it in the performance of his "speeches". The only difference is Osama did a better job than Britney so some naive people still don't realize that he's a fraud.

[paul]

America wake up,..., you don't have a decent guy to run the country yet, people need to understand that if we believe we should, (gay, black, white, relligious, etc), vote for someone who defend our ways, what we believe, what we want for your future we should get that, if not people should not vote at all.
It is really sad that you only have two candidates to vote you should have much more.

[Timothy Teater]

I think it was a very effective commercial. It seperates the ObamaPhenomena and reality. McCain has tried to bring Obama to debate him in a town hall format 10 times and Obama declined. Why? Obama is weak on the issues and as long as Obama can ride this Obamaphenomena out the better. Now it seems like old man McCain has Obama in a political headlock that Obama won't be able to recover from and we will just start seeing his numbers slide.
Very effective campaign commercial.
Tim
Chicago

[Jared]

WTF!!! That pic isn't even britney. Look close. Its a fake. Not cool gay.com

[GeorgiaDon]

it is a fair ad , but it kinda sucked, not strong enough, but everyone needs to air up their tires & get their vehicles tuned up this weekend, so we won't have to think about drilling for oil, according to the great and almighty idiot, obama ! he has nothing, nothing at all ! well, unless you want to be a socialist nation ! not for me ! can't we just start over ! i am not happy with either choice, but obama scares the hell out of me ! as does that ignorant speaker of the house ! oh my goodness, someone please help us out of this mess ! we are going to hell on a rapid rail !

[Rusty Mendez]

I'm very surprised that Mr McCain is being so Childish. He obvoiusly has nothing to attack so he is playing Pre-School Childish games. Keep it in the schoolyard! The American public has brains enough to see that you are not the man to run our country when you have to stoop to such idiotic tactics. You Mr. McCain should be ABSOLUTELY ASSAMED of yourself. Grow up or get out of the race!

[Frank]

I don't know what's worse - comparing britney and paris to obama, or the 30 seconds of my life i wasted watching this ad that i'll never get back...