McCain ad compares Obama to Paris, Spears

WASHINGTON: What do celebrities like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Senator Barack Obama have in common?
     
A new election campaign ad released by Republican presidential nominee John McCain flashes shots of the two megacelebrities -- Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. It calls Obama a megacelebrity too but questions his leadership ability.
     
"He's the biggest celebrity in the world. But is he ready to lead? With gas prices soaring, Barack Obama says no to offshore drilling and says he'll raise taxes on electricity. Higher taxes, more foreign oil -- that's the real Obama," the ad's narrator says while crowds screaming "Obama!" are shown.
     
Responding to the ad, spokesman of Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, Tommy Vietor said, "On a day when major news organisations 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.'"
     
The ad is the latest in a string of hard-hitting television commercials released by the camp of the 71-year-old Vietnam war veteran as the race for the White House hots up. Earlier ads suggest the 47-year-old Obama is playing politics with the Iraq war, is against funding American troops and bears some of the responsibility for high gas prices.
 
Announcing the release of the ad, McCain adviser Rick Davis said of Obama's campaign coverage: "The focus on media, on events and activities, is much more something you'd expect from someone releasing a new movie."
     
"What we decided to do was find the top three international celebrities in the world," Davis was quoted as saying by CNN.
     
"And I would say that from our estimation, Britney and Paris came in second and third. So from our perspective, we have the biggest three celebrities in the world."
     
Davis also brushed aside suggestions the ad will be viewed by the American public as going negative.
     
"Will people think of this as negative advertising? Look, it's the most entertaining thing I've seen on TV in a while. I wouldn't anticipate anything about this being negative," he said.
     
Steve Schmidt, another top McCain adviser, also said it was accurate to compare Obama to the two celebrities who, as one reporter said on the call, are often portrayed as "frivolous and irresponsible."
     
"I don't poll Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, but I know they're international celebrities, so apples to apples," he said.