The latest Republican attack strategy centres on portraying Obama as an out-of-touch celebrity (see Daniel Nasaw's piece on this new ad, entitled Celeb, which shows the candidate feted by vast crowds, and visually associates him with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. But this latest version of the counterintuitive "Obama is too popular to win" message carries its risks: as Marc Ambinder points out this morning, the accepted wisdom on TV advertising is that visual imagery often trumps the spoken message; the visual imagery here is of Obama being feted like a president. Then again, the biggest crowds shown are crowds of Germans, and we know what that's supposed to imply. This ad, entitled Low Road, is Obama's response.
The Straight Talk Express takes the scenic route: McCain's aides are frustrated that, in public appearances, he keeps veering off the message they're trying to get him to deliver. McCain strategies (and strategists) come and go -- but the problem? "It's the candidate," says one tactician close to the campaign. [Washington Post]
The steam is going out of the Tim-Kaine-as-Obama's-VP rumour. Turns out that Obama hasn't actually, like, spoken to Kaine for a couple of weeks. [New York Observer]
By the way, when you're going to mock your opponent as an airhead celebrity by associating him with Paris Hilton, it might be a good idea to check whether Paris Hilton's parents haven't in fact been donating generously to your campaign. Rick and Kathy Hilton are a little angry with John McCain today. [Bitten and Bound]
Here are the 50 most beautiful people in Washington DC. [The Hill]
