"Mindless fans"? Obama campaign turns Paris Hilton ad on its... ear

By GottaLaff

Obama's team is sharp and quick, two excellent things to be if you're a team:

Barack Obama's campaign manager said Monday John McCain's now-famous Paris Hilton/Britney Spears television ad wasn't just insulting to the Illinois senator, but to his campaign's legion of supporters as well.

Perfect. Emphasize the insult to supporters and you not only stir up emotions (read: anger towards J Sid), but you also light a fire under them to defend their guy.

And in an e-mail to those supporters Monday, campaign manager David Plouffe is hoping a backlash from that television spot will push Obama over the two million individual donor mark by the party's convention at the end of August — only six months after the campaign topped one million donors.

"While supporters like you are out knocking on doors, registering new voters, and organizing in your local communities, our opponents are not even trying to match your efforts. Instead, they're spending millions to spread the smear that Barack is just a 'celebrity' and that our grassroots movement is just a bunch of mindless fans," Plouffe wrote in the e-mail in what is one of his harshest assessments to date of McCain's 'Celebrity' ad.

I'm in the mood for a good fight with the McFreezeDried bunch, know why? Because we'll win.

Will Ferrell on Paris' McCain smackdown: "She nailed you"

By GottaLaff

I knew I liked Will Ferrell for more than his chiseled good looks and buff body:

Popular comedian Will Ferrell, who famously portrayed President Bush in 2000 on “Saturday Night Live,” called Paris Hilton’s response to Sen. John McCain a “smack-down” of the Republican presidential candidate. [...]

“I love this video,” a post attributed to Ferrell reads. “And I love that it's clearly a smackdown of McCain, but he tried to release some statement saying Paris agrees with his energy policy. That is incredibly feeble. You mentioned Paris in an ad which was cheap and then she nailed you.”

Unlike Lieberman-clone Dennis Miller, this former Saturday Night Live cast member hasn't lost his sanity. Well, not completely anyway, wink.

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

An ad for The Paris Hilton Presidential Campaign. Paid for by Funny Or Die.

Must be video day.

David Gergen: McCain's "The One" = "code for uppity"

By GottaLaff

Via Huffington Post: McCain accuses Obama of playing the race card? Not so fast, says David Gergen in the video.

Also, about that other ad. You know the one... it had them two blonde sexpots in it that imply all kinds of wrong and sleazy things? Yeah, that one:

• Mike Murphy, McCain's campaign manager during the 2000 Republican primary: "clumsy, juvenile, and a mistake... I think it was a dumb ad."
• Roberta McCain [J Sid's mother], while acknowledging that she had not seen the Britney spot, called the idea "stupid."
• Kathy Hilton, Paris' mother: "It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. 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. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States."

But this is a referendum about Obama. Where is the logic?

UPDATE:

Disquieting Rasmussen numbers this morning--McCain's crying racism worked. 53% of Americans, including the same % of whites and half of all Democrats, thing that Obama's "dollar bill" remark was "racist." Only 22% think the Paris Hilton ad was racist--most of those being black people, of course (only 18% of white people took this view).

That was from a reader over at TPM. They did, however, take some comfort from the Gergen segment (above).

Paris Hilton's Mom (McCain Contributor) Blasts McCain

Tsk, tsk. Wonder why the media isn't all over this?

I've been asked again and again for my response to the now infamous McCain celebrity ad. I actually have three responses. It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. 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. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States.

Ouch.

Bad press = good money for Obama

By GottaLaff

Via Ambinder:

A reader writes:

Hey Marc,

After making my third $25 contribution earlier this week (I told myself I was done until after the convention but then Paris-gate hit), Plouffe sent fellow contributors a campaign update. Here are the numbers:

-- 200,000 contributions in the past week, including 100,000 yesterday. One third of contributors are new.

Told ya so.

Lieberman: "Relax and enjoy it"

By GottaLaff

Joe Lieberman does it again. How gracious and bipartisan of him to come out with such insight:

Joe defends the new McCain attack ad: "To some extent the appearance of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- people complain about it -- they should just relax and enjoy it."

Kinda reminds you of a joke McTasteless once told, doesn't it?

Paris McCain

By GottaLaff

Just heard on the Stephanie Miller show, via a caller:

"Cindy McCain is a senior citizen version of Paris Hilton."

This was in response to the new McDesperate ad.

UPDATE: James Wolcott has a similar take ("Paris Hilton resembles a younger version of Cindy McCain--there's an almost daughterly resemblance, an enjoined twirl of ruling class DNA. So using her as an object of derision doesn't quite gel."), but he takes apart the ad point by point, beautifully. Go read, it's relatively short. (H/t: Commenter Addy)