Heeeere's Johnny!

It's the only mention I'll make of the new McCain spot that is getting so much play now. You know, the one with Britany Spears and Paris Hilton...and Obama. The one that lampoons Obama's celebrity. Even though I don't think it's as harsh a spot as some are claiming, it is decidedly un-McCain. It's more like McCain as host of a bad talk show. And clearly, the fingerprints of new campaign manager Steve Schmidt are all over this. He is a Karl Rove protoge--(you know, the Karl Rove that has systematically destroyed the Republican brand)--and Schmidt's mission is to get his guy elected. So you do whatever you have to do. Go negative, question character, make inane comparisons. I get it.

But my question is, when will the American people get that a disconnect between what a candidate says he stands for, and the way his campaign actually behaves, translates into the kind of leadership he will provide in office.

When George Bush said in 2000 that he was a compassionate conservative, but his campaign savaged John McCain with a pack of lies prior to the South Carolina primaries, should we have been surprised that he would become a polarizing figure with serious credibility issues on everything from the War in Iraq to the firing of federal judges?

So in 2008 when John McCain says he wants to have a serious debate about the issues, and then decides that the only way he can win is to go relentlessly negative on Obama, do we really think a McCain Presidency would include the honest bi-partisan dialogue he says he wants to have to get things done? Please.

I think Obama's two main statements on the spot were right on: "I have noticed that John McCain doesn't seem to have a lot of positive things to say about himself"; and, more to the point, "Is that the best he can come up with?"

I think that's a good question for Americans to ask John McCain.

Does the spot reflect the true John McCain? Talk about this or anything else by clicking on 'comments' below, bypassing the Google sign-up and hitting the anonymous or nickname button.