"Hot chicks dig Obama," a new John McCain ad proclaims

Another day, another John McCain Web ad that depicts Barack Obama as an air-headed creation of celebrity culture.

References and images include Elvis, The Beatles, Bono, Wayne and Garth (of "Saturday Night Live" fame) and, most improbably, a Taco Bell (!).

[UPDATE: The use of Wayne and Garth -- the two stoner characters memorably etched by Michael Myers and Dana Carvey -- came to the attention of copyright lawyers and led to a slight re-editing of the spot, as The Times' Dan Morian relates here.]

Most controversially, the spot features one young woman complimenting Obama's "aura," and a second young woman singling out his "very soft eyes" for praise. And then there's a fellow saying of the 47-year-old U.S. senator and father of two who defied long odds to emerge as one of the two main contenders for the most powerful office in the world: "Hot chicks dig Obama."

The ad begins with an excited narrator saying: "You've seen him in London, Paris and Berlin. Now you, too, can join 'The One's' fan club in America."

Later, the narrator cheerily asserts: "We know he doesn't have much experience. And isn't ready to lead. But that doesn't mean he isn't dreamy."

McCain surrogates will light-heartedly defend the ad as simply another effort to inject humor into the serious business of running for the White House.

Others will wonder how much more demeaning the McCain camp can get toward its rival -- and whether the Democrat and his aides will figure out a way to effectively counter the ongoing assault.

The new ad surfaces on the same day that Mark Penn -- unabashedly continuing to offer his insights at Politico.com after helping guide Hillary Clinton from frontrunner in the Democratic race to also-ran -- gives his professional blessing to the much-discussed McCain "Celebrity" ad that linked Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Writes Penn: "Clever negative advertising works. That is reality."

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[harbinger]

If McCain keeps up this infantile gibberish, anyone with any sense at all will be too embarassed to vote for him. This is desperate stuff and deeply pathetic. We don't need a president with dementia. From delusional to demented, hmm? Nope

[mtw01]

More republican moronism.

[MarkM]

John McCain. So high-minded and deep. A true brother of Bush!

[Tracker]

I'll be voting for Santa Claus.

[Smart.Org.]

Barack Hussein Obama for president of Kenya.

[elvis]

McCain's next ad will feature a comedian in Black face asking, "where the white the white women at?"

[John]

OHOHOHO!

Those rascally McCainiacs! They are soooooooo cute! i love it when my granddad got all worked up talking about politics and whatnot! He was sooooo cute too. Course, he didn't screw around on my grandmother, but that's another story, isn't it?

Oh, and Brad...I don't know about McCain, but I think Michele Obama is HOT.

[Bob Jefferson]

It's easy to see the Karl Rove tactics in the McCain campaign. That man (Rove) should be banned from all political involvement. I trust that intelligent Americans can see through the Rovian antics when trying to place their candidate in office. This man is so un-American it hurts me to think that these tactics are allowed to occur. We need to focus on the issues and not the the smear of Karl Rove.

[Lisa]

Sexist Pig.

[Laura G]

The tone of the ad tells you who this man is. Chicks? Hot? This is a man who is so outdated, he doesn't even know when he's making a faux pas. He's a relic of a someday forgotten past. He makes inappropriate jokes about women and minorities and jokes about dropping bombs. Is this the person you believe will best represent who we are? I'm embarrassed that this chauvinist pig ended up as the Republican nominee.

[Oregon4Obama]

I think the ad is suppose to be humorous....but "chicks"

"CHICKS"!!!!!!

How are you going to win over women with the word "hot chicks" in this video and last week offering your wife up to strip off her clothes in a beauty pagent at a sturgis rally.......not too smart mccain

[Bill Burgess]

only poor people should support Obama , I make over 42k a year .

[Face Reality, Obama Suckers!]

You Obama supporters aren't gonna know what hit ya - just like Kerry in 2004. Digging deep and dirty and highlighting the superficial DOES SWAY VOTERS, but you Democrat elites are too dumb to realize it. McCain is on a roll now-he's going to frame Obama as an airheaded celebrity-and as a result, we'll have a REPUBLICAN president for another 4 years.

Doesn't it just gnaw at your craws, Obama suckers?

[nka]

These ads are getting ridiculous, is this a game show or an election? Get to the issues both of you!

[mcolo]

Methink that McCain is insulting the ineligentia of american public by these dumb and meaningless ads. Does McCain,his campaign and repulicans,me inculsive believe that we can sale ourselves, taking our precarious position into consideration, to Americans by dishing out childish attack on Obama? I am ashamed whenever democracts ask me to point out one new, inteligent contribution McCain has made to solve the mess repulican government plunged us into since he became the repulican presumtive norminee.To me,none.

[Face Reality, Obama Suckers!]

You Obama supporters aren't gonna know what hit ya - just like Kerry in 2004. Digging deep and dirty and highlighting the superficial DOES SWAY VOTERS, but you Democrat elites are too dumb to realize it. McCain is on a roll now-he's going to frame Obama as an airheaded celebrity-and as a result, we'll have a REPUBLICAN president for another 4 years.

Doesn't it just gnaw at your craws, Obama suckers?

[anonymost]

So I'm curious where all you corporation hating people work?

Also, another question, let's say Obama gets elected does this signify the end of entitlements for minorities? Or better yet should it end things that are to bring about equality? Cause obviously if a minority is elected president that would mean that the programs have achieved their result correct?

[J.H.]

The truly sad part about all of this is not that McCain and his advisors would stoop to this sort of lowest common denominator politics. The sad part is that the American public is stupid enough to actually be influenced by this garbage.

[biff]

This is really a base roiler, isn't it? You know the type-the Lush Bingebaugh crowd that looks to be on the side of the would be bully-snarking out comments-blasting women in an us against them vein. Problem is-the bully is really a Viagra popping thrice married junkie that most likely wet himself every time he stepped onto the playground. I think most his listeners get that deep down, but are cut from the same cloth. This ad in its way is just that type of vacuous put down. No facts-no substance-all posing. Yet another failed offspring of a successful pol, who hates real Americans dons his patriotic suit-and brandishing his grammar school intellect, tries to snark his way into the white house.
No one every went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.

[McCain=Wussy]

Hot guys dig McCain! Roll'im in flour, show'em chaplin flicks till he laughs and follow the pee trail...
Yippeee!

Hey ya kow, "Face Reality, Obama Suckers!" is right; McCain IS on a roll now. It's thrilling to watch him spin. For that's what it is.

Flush... ;~)

[Jose]

McCain is trying to define Obama but in fact he is defining himself by his negative ads. He is not as clever as he thinks.

[Robin]

I don't get it, the two major 'celebrities' actually in US politics are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan. Both Republican, and both well liked afaik. Someone should mention this...

[cuteNcuddely]

OMG like whatever.. as if... ya know it's like uh, well, ya know! OMG! GMWAS! like war is bad... and we should keep our tires inflated ya know... omg, it's like we need to feed the poor and like be respected in the world.... ya know like world peace or something.. the working people are bad ya know and we should like punish them and stuff... like vote cause Obama will save us, he'll change ya know cause were bad and people don't like- like us and stuff. Like he said he wants to take america back to what it was - ya know, like all racist and stuff...

[Ericmiami]

Earlier in the campaign, I thought McCain had sold his soul to the devil. Now I know he didn't. The devil would have made the campaign a good commercial. This one is pathetic.

[FreeFlorida08]

Isn't THIS rich? John McCain - who finished 5th from the freaking bottom of his USNA class - trying to make the case that Barack Obama - who was President of the Harvard Law Review (better known as "tops in his graduating class" at law school) - is an airhead. Nice. That kind of crap will move the national dialgoue forward, huh?

There is only one simple, solid reason why McCain is "campaigning" this way: he's got nothing to say to the American electorate. If he did, he'd damn well be saying it, rather than acting like a 4-year-old with a load in his pants. Oops, sorry - he's actually a 72-year-old with a load in his pants ...

Anyone interested in knowing about the REAL John Sidney McCain need only to Google "Songbird McCain" and see what comes up ...