Paris Slighted

Indignation is rippling through the Hilton family over the McCain campaign's attack on Paris Hilton. It seems they see her reputation as having been diminished by the comparison to Barack.

According to reports, the McCain campaign office received a furious phone call from William Barron Hilton (co-chairman of the Hilton Hotel empire), who took issue with the comparison between Senator Obama and his granddaughter.

He has a right to complain.

Donor records show William Hilton has given $US18,400 ($19,420) to the McCain campaign and $US35,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the past two years. Paris Hilton's father, Rick Hilton, has given $US6,900 to the McCain campaign.

I wonder if William Barron Hilton heard about the sex tape that made Paris a star.

Feeling Hollywood's Pain

The LA Times reports that Hollywood finds McCain's new ad, likening celebrity Barack to other famous people, like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, aggravating.

Just for a start, industry types say the ad is wrong: In the Hollywood lexicon, Obama is not a celebrity. He's a rock star. (Note to McCain strategists: That's the difference between Jessica Simpson and Bono.)

Ah. Now we get it.

Then there's the small inconvenience that Paris' parents, Rick and Kathleen Hilton, are supporters of McCain's Republican presidential bid. According to federal campaign records, they gave the maximum $4,600.

That's equally powerful.

McCain's latest attempt at discrediting his handsome, photogenic young rival particularly galls stars and executives with a memory, because only eight years ago, McCain was a fixture in Hollywood fundraising circles when he tried to raise money from the very people his ad now ridicules.

How disturbing.

At the time, dozens of people in Hollywood -- including Lear, Harrison Ford, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and Michael Douglas -- gave to McCain because they thought he was a Republican celebrity ď with a great personal story. And, dare we say, some celebrities, namely Warren Beatty, even became friends with the Arizona senator.

A confession, it seems, that they don't support people for good reason, otherwise they'd still be supporting McCain, whose great personal story hasn't changed. They're apparently expecting loyalty from the old flavor of the day, who they've abandoned for their newest favorite.

But the truth is most of Hollywood won't return McCain's calls nowadays because many of the stars and executives he initially impressed now believe the maverick stance they found so attractive was just a pose. Hollywood doesn't object to a good pose -- unless, of course, it doesn't work.

Race Card

McCain has nailed Obama, thankfully, for playing the race card - again.

The negative twist in the campaign for the November 4 election was prompted by a McCain television advertisement on Wednesday that called Obama a celebrity akin to star-crossed U.S. personalities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

In response, Obama said McCain was trying to scare voters away from him by pointing out he had "a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills."

There was nothing in the ad that did anything of the sort - it simply questioned whether the man with no experience is prepared for the job of the Presidency.

"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a written statement.

Mostly, it's just manipulative.

McCain agreed with Davis, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" that Obama had used the race card.

"Race will not have any role in my campaign, nor is there any place for it. I'm disappointed that he's used it."

Thank you, McCain, for getting tough.

Barack = Paris

A new McCain ad calls Obama the biggest celebrity in the world - like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.