So now the Republicans are playing the celebrity card.

A recent attack ad by presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain attacks his Democratic opponent Barack Obama for being - gasp - popular. The ad juxtaposes images of Obama's recent European tour with red-carpet footage of such celebrity airheads as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

I think calling the ad racist, as some have - because it juxtaposes the African-American candidate with two blond white women - is a bit of a stretch. But it does reveal an intellectual vacuum in the McCain campaign, and some hypocrisy for the Republicans' celebrity bashing.

The point of the ad - vote against Obama because he's being treated like a rock star - is vacuous, and betrays a little envy on the GOP side. As Obama himself said in response to the ad, "Is that the best you can come up with?"

Republicans are adept at bashing celebrities who get political active - note the "Shut up and Sing!" mantra aimed at the Dixie Chicks when Natalie Maines spoke ill of President Bush. But this is the same party that more successfully pushes movie stars as candidates (Ronald Reagan, Fred Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger) and get all gushy when somebody like Chuck Norris get campaigning.

Folks in Hollywood, according to this Los Angeles Times article, look at McCain's tactics as desperate. And marketing expert Robert Kozinets says the "anti-celebrity de-endorsement" is likely to boomerang on McCain as it gets run through the Internet.

(Cartoon by Pat Bagley/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics