Wow. That’s…remarkable.
Who do they think they’re impressing, by so earnestly missing the joke here?
Daniel
Maybe they’re not missing the joke.
-
They need to downplay the (small amount of) egg-on-face nature of the event.
-
They could be trying to capitilize on a free marketing moment. After all, it’s essentially campaign advertising that the news organisations are running without charging ya.
I know I would try to have a sense of humor about the whole thing, if I was in McCains org. No sense acting hurt or bitter about it. You should be seen as willing to laugh at yourself now and then. (IIRC, McCain lets slip an age joke every now and then.)
You could be right. I just think they’re doing it in a very poor way: they’re trying to make a nasty stab at their opponent (“Obama is dumber than Hilton”), but come across as saying, “Hilton is as smart as McCain.”
Daniel
I have to say: Obama’s campaign staff definately seems more polished than McCain’s hamhanded ones. 
Fox News is grasping at straws, trying to say it’s bad for Obama because “it keeps the story going,” and “has people talking about energy policy.”
Fox is also careful not to show (or acknowledge in any way) any of the age jokes in the clips that they’re showing.
Sheppard smith showed them (the age joke clips) on his “Fox Report” yesterday. (It’s where I saw the ad.)
Shep and Carl Cameron appeared to be amused & entertained with Hilton’s rebuttal piece. They did not (at the time I watched) slam Hilton, or attempt to help McCain in any overt way that I saw. The only “serious” analysis was what kind of impact, if any, this story may have. (They were analysing several different campaign ads, from both campaigns, over the course of the segment.)
Sheppard Smith is actually fairly tolerable for a Fox News host, and he doesn’t come off as openly partisan as most of them do (plus he gave Sean hannity a smackdown during the Katrina fiasco :)).
Whatever this show is now with this blonde dingbat (McCallum? McCCollum?) was trying to spin the Paris video as bad for Obama.
Ah. OK. According to the Fox News website, she is part of “The Live Desk”, which I have never seen. (It airs while I am at work.)
Although I admittedly have never paid a great deal of attention to her, Paris Hilton never seemed genuinely stupid in the way of Anna Nicole or Britney, but a person of at least average intelligence who was selling a well-crafted persona called “Paris Hilton”.
The “Funny or Die” website was founded by Will Ferrell and company as an alternative outlet for various kinds of material: stuff that wouldn’t be bought/aired by the mainstream, or that’s highly topical and needs to be released fast to catch the moment (as this one is), or that otherwise doesn’t fit into the ordinary available venues. It’s got some serious heavyweight comedy talent behind the scenes.
Damn, that video’s been viewed over 3.5 million times in under 24 hours!
This is the absolute #1 point.
During the last election in Canada, a commentator said something that really summed up the losing side’s unsuccessful attack campaign; “If you audition for the role of Opposition Leader, you’ll always win the job.” McCain’s campaign is doing an absolutely shit job of making him look like he’s campaigning for President; he looks like he’s campaigning for Barack Obama to not be President, which simply makes Obama look more and more Presidential. You’ll recall how “Don’t vote for Bush” worked for John Kerry in 2004.
Getting into a public hair-pulling match with Paris Hilton is quite honestly the worst thing I can imagine McCain doing short of strangling a kitten on national TV. The last thing you want is for people to laugh at you. One they don’t take you seriously any more, you’re cooked.
Am I the only one who read this as “a **pubic **hair-pulling match”? Holy cow, I nearly sprayed my Diet Coke at the mental image.
Oh, now that’s just too much! I’m prepared to believe she’s not as dumb as she’d like us to think (like Mr. Bus Guy, I don’t think anyone could achieve what she has if they were truly stupid), but finding out - in the same day, no less - that she’s actually pretty, too? Gah. You just made me jealous of Paris freakin’ Hilton, dude! Not cool!
And then imagined McCain and Hilton in a whore-off?
A vacuous yout’ plugging for the democratic candidate.
It worked so well for Gore & Kerry. Energize the yout’ vote!
Congratulations McCain, you just won.
WhyNot, I know, right? I was shocked that she’s actually pretty in that picture!
Where do you see Hilton plugging for Obama? She doesn’t even name him in the ad (calls him “that other guy”). You’re reaching. This was strictly aimed at McCain in response to McCain’s brain-damaged “celebrity” ad.
I know it’s hard to see your guy being made fun of, but he deserved it.
He’s won no matter what. The American people are too stupid to vote as a majority for Obama. What Paris does or doesn’t do has no effect on that.
Right, I mistook the slam on the wrinkly white haired guy and the cheering in this thread.
Nice way to hedge your bet, but Americans aren’t going to vote for who the MTV generation thinks is, like, ohmygod, like, so totally cool & stuff!
The MTV generation is like 40.
And the blue hairs aren’t dead yet and the MTV generation hasn’t elected a president yet.