If Barack Obama gave new meaning to the term political celebrity, then John McCain helped define it.
He emerged as the most popular Republican in Hollywood following his 2000 presidential primary defeat, winning more screen time than the rest of Congress combined. McCain made cameos in Wedding Crashers and 24, saw his memoir turned into a popular biopic on A&E, and appeared more than 30 times on late night comedy shows.
So this week, when McCain cast Obamas celebrity as a disqualifier, it seemed like a curious turn.
Just one day before McCain released an advertisement interspersing pictures of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears with footage of Obama addressing 200,000 people in Berlin, actor Jon Voight told Variety that McCain had many great, intelligent, talented Academy-winning actors standing by, awaiting a major press conference to show their support.
[The ad] is a bit ironic given that McCain has been the most pop-culture savvy Republican candidate in quite some time, said Ted Johnson, managing editor of Variety and editor of the blog Wilshire and Washington, which monitors the intersection of celebrity and politics.
The McCain campaign continued to hammer at Obama on Friday with the release of a very sarcastic Web ad that at one point cuts to an image of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea before posing the question: Barack Obama may be The One, but is he ready to lead?
The Spears-Hilton ad hits a similar note, describing Obama as the biggest celebrity in the world.
The Republican National Committee piled on, launching a Web site Friday called Who Said It? Celebrity Edition that features a multiple-choice quiz in which people must identify whether Obama or a celebrity made certain, often vacuous, statements.
Its a striking line of attack for McCain, whos accepted without complaint the celebrity epithet from journalists for four decades.
Johns been a celebrity ever since he was shot down, former McCain strategist John Weaver told The Atlantic earlier this week, whatever that means.
Yet, like the way fresh starlets push aside aging actors, political hot shots from years past (think former President Bill Clinton, often described as a rock star in his day) have been overshadowed by the newest crop of talent in this election year. This sort of churning is typical during presidential campaigns, said Matt Bennett, communications director for Gen. Wesley Clarks 2004 presidential campaign and co-founder of Third Way, a progressive policy group.
McCain was famous for a politician, Bennett said. Obama has almost transcended that, and has become famous as a famous person which is why they are comparing him to Paris Hilton.
Since 2000, Bennett went on, McCain has enjoyed enough fame and authority and celebrity to aid candidates and organizations with ads that simply involve him speaking into a camera.
McCain started on the public stage with the pedigree of a family whose name graces a naval ship and a Mississippi National Guard training center.
With his father serving as a top admiral, John McCain first became a household name when he was captured in Vietnam, and even more of one upon his release five years later. The New York Times featured him on its front page. He wrote an acclaimed 12,000-word, first person account for U.S. News and World Report. President Richard Nixon feted him.
