McCain Ridicules Obama as Paris Hilton

It probably can’t be proven, but Germans may play a decisive role in the coming presidential election in the United States – even though they can’t vote in it. The reason? Americans just can’t get over Obama’s being cheered by 200,000 people at Berlin’s Victory Column.

Of all people, his rival John McCain keeps that image alive with two new TV campaign spots. In the first, the Republican again makes fun of the Germans after the narrator ridicules them as “fawning.” In the second, he compares Obama with two media-addicted scandal airheads, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton!

The first spot shows a series of Berliners interviewed after Obama’s speech. One young man says, “I have Marxist friends in the United States who like Obama.” Another compares him with the Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara.

Hmmmm. Marxist . . . Che Guevara . . . Obama . . . Germans . . . that figures.

Then the pictures suddenly change. First we see Obama, then 200,000 Germans, then an American actor who only became famous in the USA because of his German fans: David Hasselhoff. In his “Baywatch” swimming trunks.

The message: Anyone who likes Hasselhoff, known for his drunken escapades, would also like Obama.

The second spot again shows the crowd at the Berlin Victory Column, all screaming, “Obama! Obama!” Cut quickly to images of two stars with questionable reputations: the fallen pop-icon Britney Spears who just gave up custody of her two children, then the hotel heiress, Paris Hilton, the arrogant party chick who cried so pitifully when she was sentenced to a jail term because she wanted to drive while drunk.

A female voice then seems to praise Obama:

“Okay, Obama’s the biggest star in the world,” followed by the sneering question, “But is he fit to lead a country?”

Whether these spots made sense or were just tasteless was heavily debated in the American media on Wednesday.

Jack Cafferty, a CNN columnist, brutally critical of Democrats as well as Republicans, put it in a nutshell:

“McCain is just jealous. He’s trying to hitch a ride on Obama’s wagon after his successful foreign journey. If we added up the number of people who turned out to see McCain at all his campaign events or foreign appearances so far, it wouldn’t come anywhere close to 200,000. But at least the TV spots were funny. They’re his attempt to be included in the conversation.”

It’s less helpful for Obama that gangster-rapper Ludacris, of all people, is loudly supporting him while forgetting all limits of taste. In his song, “Politics as Usual,” he ridicules Obama’s former opponent, Hillary Clinton, as well as President George W. Bush whom he calls “mentally handicapped.” Obama’s campaign quickly distanced itself from the hip-hopper. Campaign spokesman Bill Burton called the song lyrics “totally insulting” and said Ludacris should be ashamed of himself.

The question remains how the Americans see the global enthusiasm for Obama. Will they be positively impressed by it, as Obama himself was when he was celebrated during his travels? Or will they see it as meddling in their election and, precisely because of that, vote for McCain just out of spite?