UPDATE: Paris Hilton's rich gramps is reported steamed at John McCain

(UPDATE: A correction to the information below relating to the fictitious Martin Eisenstadt has been published here.)

Just a short quick update on this crucial Paris Hilton political business so that the half of the globe now in darkness can go to bed in peace and the light of wisdom. And we can all get on with Friday come daylight.

Late word Thursday night -- not surprising but late nonetheless -- that the Hilton family is rather unhappy with the campaign of Sen. John McCain for including its scion, P.H., in its controversial and therefore successful political campaign ad somehow attempting to link two famous or infamous female celebrities (Britney Spears is the other) with a certain Democratic presidential nominee-to-be.

If you need a refresher, you can watch the new McCain ad below. But watch quickly because the two young ladies who are famous for being famous appear only briefly.

As The Ticket noted previously, P.H.'s ma and pa, Kathleen and Richard Hilton, have donated the $2,300 maximum to the McCain operation. But there's a lot more Hiltons around apparently, including Gramps Hilton (William B.), who is the vast hotel empire's co-chair. And according to Martin Eisenstadt's blog, he's been quite the generous donor to the tune of more than $50Gs to Republican campaign operations.

Not only that, he reports, but members of the Blackstone Group, the private equity group that bought into Hilton Hotels last year, have also been generous GOP donors. And Marty says they've expressed themselves angrily to McCain representatives in recent hours.

Ever the political maverick, McCain will no doubt cite such commercial insults to benefactors as proof that he's not beholden to rich corporate types. So if you give money to his Republican campaign, you too can have your children and grandchildren linked to something as blatantly nefarious as a Democrat's campaign to show himself as beloved by Europeans who can't vote here on Nov. 4. Take that!

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: French Bureau of Tourism

Pamela Anderson's very first time: She'll mark XXX for Obama

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This'll be the first time for Pamela Anderson.

The actress, who is most famous for her film role not acting, will be casting her initial ballot as a U.S. citizen this November. You're right, she doesn't look very Canadian. But she used to be one.

She's now officially endorsed Barack Obama, who isn't Canadian either.

She did it on national TV -- twice. Most recently on "The View," when she said, "Yes, I can vote. First time. Obama!" And then she flashed a thumbs up, which is Canadian for "No more snow for me."

It was an exciting moment on daytime television. As usual, our sister blogger, the inevitable or inimitable -- we always confuse those words -- Elizabeth Snead, has some more of the celebrity details over here on the Dish Rag.

Meanwhile, so you'll recognize her when you get there, here's a before-voting photograph of Pamela Anderson with her large pair of sunglasses. No doubt a discreet way of hiding her identity on the streets of New York. No one would ever recognize her disguised this way. We'll try to remember to publish an after-vote shot come November.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: WireImage

As John McCain attacks, will he pay a price?

John McCain has provocatively asserted that Barack Obama, in his policy toward Iraq, is willing to lose a war in order to win a presidential campaign.

Given the harsh edge to this critique and recent ads the McCain team has directed at Obama, the question comes to mind: Is the presumptive Republican nominee willing to lose his good reputation within media circles and among some fellow politicos in order to win the election?

As McCain and his campaign have escalated the attacks on Obama, various voices have disputed the propriety of the efforts.

For instance, McCain's charge -- which he has steadfastly stood by -- that Obama is guided solely by political self-interest in his views on Iraq sparked a rebuke from Chuck Hagel, a fellow Vietnam veteran and a GOP Senate colleague.

Hagel, a McCain ally in the past who split with him over the war in Iraq, accompanied Obama on the latter's high-profile stop in that country. During an appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Hagel scolded McCain: "I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives, and when we start to get into 'You're less patriotic than me, I'm more patriotic.' ... John's better than that."

A controversial ad the McCain forces unveiled over the weekend, which asserted that Obama cancelled a planned visit with wounded troops while he was in Germany during his recent overseas trip because the media could not accompany him, earned a scathing rebuke from the Washingon Post. The lead to the front-page piece said bluntly that McCain and his allies had pressed that case "despite no evidence that the charge is true."

The even-more controversial ad for the Republican's campaign that connected Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton spurred pointed remarks from several journalists and commentators.

On NBC's "Today" show, host Matt Lauer had a sharp retort ...

Bill Clinton sees a bright side to Hillary being a loser

So apparently it was a really good thing that Sen. Hillary Clinton lost her 18-month, $212-million campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

We learned that today in an e-mail from her hubby, Bill. He reveals that during the campaign, he and Hillary didn't have much chance to eat meals together because they were usually campaigning in different states.

"Of all the people I've had the privilege to break bread with," the ex-president states, "the person I most enjoy is still Hillary."

Of course, now that he's got us all feeling mushy, he sets the hook.

"Now you have a chance to have dinner with her. And if you contribute even as little as $5 today, you can help Hillary retire that pesky campaign debt, and you and a guest might be sitting down to dinner with her soon."

That "pesky campaign debt" is, of course, the $25.2 million that she still owes people all over the country (as of June 30), $13 million of it to herself.

"Trust me on this one," Bill Clinton says. "If you're the lucky winner, it will be a night to remember and one you'll really enjoy."

--Andrew Malcolm

Gallup Poll update: Barack Obama and John McCain essentially dead even

We've paid a lot of attention to Gallup polls this week, in the wake of seemingly contradictory results by the most-famed brand name in gauging public opinion. By one Gallup measure, John McCain was up; Barack Obama had a solid lead in a different survey by the company and a narrower advantage among a third sample group.

Today, the Gallup daily tracking poll -- the rolling average of voter interviews conducted, in this case, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (correction: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) -- shows the race at almost a dead heat. Obama had a statistically insignificant one-percentage-point lead over McCain, 45% to 44%.

A week ago, in the midst of his much-heralded overseas trip, Obama began a spurt in the tracking polls -- on Sunday, he reached his peak with a nine-point margin, 49% to 40%. But since then, his edge has steadily declined.

Writes Gallup editor Frank Newport:

"The story of the election through the summer months has been a close race that simply does not seem to want to change. Obama has generally been in the lead, and it is significant that McCain has never held even a 1-point lead among registered voters in Gallup Poll Daily tracking since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June.

Still, the relative stability of the race, even in the aftermath of such a high-visibility event as Obama's foreign trip (coupled, of course, with the McCain campaign's vigorous efforts to defuse its impact) continues to suggest that it may be the conventions in late August and early September that will offer the next potential timeframe for significant and/or sustained change."

Perhaps, but the Ticket and others will be watching the track closely over the next couple of days to see if what may end up as the most-discussed ad of recent vintage -- the McCain camp's spot tying, improbably to many, Obama with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- has a clear effect on either candidate's standing.

-- Don Frederick

Paris Hilton's dad: He's on record as a John McCain contributor

If a certain heir to a hotel-based fortune is rethinking his support of John McCain, it will be understandable.

Contributors to McCain's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination included Rick Hilton. In fact, Hilton was so enthusiastic about his candidate of choice that, The Times' Tina Daunt reports, federal records show he donated twice as much as the law allows (the campaign returned the excess).

Now, of course, daughter Paris Hilton is the costar (along with Britney Spears) in a controversial new McCain ad aimed at ridiculing Barack Obama.

No word yet on how the elder Hilton is reacting to the new ad, but Daunt will have details on how it's playing in Hollywood in a story that will post later today on The Times' website. [UPDATE: Daunt's piece has been posted].

Here's a preview: She notes that eight years ago, when he vied with George W. Bush for the GOP nomination, McCain garnered money from a fair number of entertainment industry figures, including such traditionally fervent Democratic backers as Norman Lear. The producer's reaction to the new McCain commercial: "I didn’t think McCain could look silly. But that ad diminishes him and makes him look silly.”

McCain stood foursquare behind the spot today, The Times' Nicholas Riccardi reports.

Asked at a town hall meeting (what else) in Racine, Wis., if comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears was a flip-flop on his pledge to conduct a high-minded, respectful campaign, McCain replied: "There are differences and we are drawing those differences."

He continued: "I’m proud of the campaign we have run, I’m proud of the issues we are trying to address with the American people. We’re proud of that commercial."

-- Don Frederick

John McCain trend detected in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida polls

The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which is focusing on several of the states that presumably will tell the tale of this year's presidential race, is out with results from three of those locales that can be spun positively by either campaign -- though John McCain's camp can make a better case than Barack Obama's.

Surveys of voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida show Obama ahead in each -- though by margins so negligible in the latter two that the contests there, as gauged by the Quinnipiac polls, are essentially tossups.

And in all three states, the trend -- compared to polls by the group a month ago -- favored McCain.

Here are the new results, compared to the previous ones:

Florida: Obama 46%, McCain 44% (in June, Obama 47%, McCain 43%).

Ohio: Obama 46%, McCain 44% (in June, Obama 48%, McCain 42%).

Pennsylvania: Obama 49%, McCain 42% (in June, Obama 52%, McCain 40%).

The movement toward McCain is in line with recent polling by Quinnipiac in four other key states: Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin (as The Ticket reported last week).

The solace for Obama in today's polls (elaborated on by assistant survey director in this Quinnipiac release) is that his lead in Pennsylvania -- a must-win for him -- remains outside the margin of error.

Also, if Obama can snatch either Ohio or Florida from the Republican column -- and that's obviously doable, based on the news polls -- it's hard to see how McCain can amass the 270 electoral votes needed for the White House.

-- Don Frederick 

'Race card' dealt by Barack Obama, a John McCain aide charges

Perhaps it's the summer heat. Whatever, the churlish aura increasingly enveloping the presidential campaign showed no sign of abating today.

The cause celebre of the moment involves a comment Barack Obama made Wednesday as he campaigned in Missouri. As John McCain's campaign unveiled its fourth straight attack ad -- the "Celebs" spot that lumps Obama with lightweight (and scandal-plagued) favorites of the paparazzi Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee had this to say (as related in a Times campaign story):

"The only way they figure they're going to win this election is if they make you scared of me. 'He's new. He doesn't look like the other presidents on the dollar bills. He's got a funny name. . . .' The argument is that I'm too risky."

Obama has invoked the "doesn't look like other presidents" line in the past, but usually in a positive context -- as in, how his ability to attract support across various demographic groups signifies, among many voters, a "post-racial" approach to politics.

The context of the remark in Missouri, of course, was much different -- implying that the GOP was seeking to call attention to his biracial heritage.

The McCain forces today made clear they would have none of that. Campaign manager Rick Davis fired off a terse, two-sentence statement:

“Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”

Asked about his comment just moments ago on MSNBC, Davis stressed that he took great umbrage at Obama's inference that any aspect of the campaign's recent offensive against Obama had racial overtones.

Davis also was pressed by the cable network's Andrea Mitchell to defend the Obama-Hilton-Spears linkage. He insisted it was fair because all three have great name recognition and lots of fans. He added that "the really important thing" -- what the ad was attempting to drive home -- was that just because Obama is "a great celebrity doesn't mean he's ready to lead the country."

-- Don Frederick

[UPDATE: Here's the lengthy exchange on MSNBC between Davis and Mitchell, who as the interview proceeds struggles to get a word in edgewise against the fired-up campaign aide].

Where did Barack Obama's mojo go?

Something's going on. Or some things.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll out Wednesday shows that despite nine solid days of blanket media coverage from overseas with Barack Obama cheered by adoring throngs of Germans and parlez-vousing with the French, making a three-point shot in the Middle East and standing outside No. 10 Downing Street, the freshman Illinois senator is stuck right where he was in the polls before he left.

No bounce. Not even a roll.

He still leads Republican Sen. John McCain 51% to 44%. But it's the same 51-44 as last time.

A CNN poll average shows an even slimmer 48-45 Obama lead, dangerously close for an experienced opponent who relishes being the underdog.

"Obama has not picked up any ground against McCain on foreign issues," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "And some 52% think McCain would do a better job than Obama on the war in Iraq -- virtually the same number who felt that way in April."

Other polls show the same stubborn one-digit lead holding for the Democratic nominee-to-be with only 96 days left until the general election. Some crucial state polls even show McCain gaining.

Obama seems to have everything going for him. A fresh face. A smooth, cadenced speaking style suited for TV. A message of change at a time when Americans historically favor change, after one party holds the White House for two terms. And after several convictions of GOP legislators.

Obama's got tons of money. An attractive family. Energized followers. A media that's curious about the new guy and tired of ...

Who's gonna be the No. 2 for McCain and Obama?

OK, we're getting pretty close on the presidential running mate situation.

Barack Obama's been meeting with his selection people the last couple of days. John McCain's been thinking about it, though neither one is talking about any names. Except, for unity's sake, Obama's got to say Hillary Clinton is on his shortlist even though she's probably not.

You can't blame them for not talking. That's about the only element of mystery left after, what, 19 months of campaigning with three more to go.

Here in midsummer with only 14 Americans actually following the presidential race -- and one of them, Obama, is going on vacation too quite soon -- the only things left to chew over are the pluses and minuses of a whole bunch of folks, two of whom we'll come to know much better in these 97 stretch days to Nov. 4.

This website is actually run by a whole lot of skilled people you don't see very much about. And a talented pack of them came together in recent days to construct a special veep package for LATimes.com readers. So you can learn all about the potential candidates in the talking mix at the moment.

It was unveiled today.

The Ticket wants to highly recommend that VP package available here.

And we want to thank Christine Kang, Tenny Tatusian, Diana Swartz and Kate Linthicum for their behind-the-scenes labors (labours, if you're reading this in Canada or the U.K.).

-- Andrew Malcolm