McCain vs. Obama: Paris Strikes Back

It was only a matter of time.

A week after the McCain campaign unveiled an ad calling Barack Obama “the biggest celebrity in the world” amid images of her and Britney Spears, Paris Hilton responded with her own “ad” yesterday. Posted on the Will Farrell/Judd Apatow-backed humor site, funnyordie.com, the Hilton video (directed by Brooke Shields’ husband Chris Henchy) opens with images of McCain interspersed with pictures of the Golden Girls, Yoda, Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Crypt Keeper from “Tales of the Crypt.” “He’s the oldest celebrity in the world, like super old,” an announcer says. “Is he ready to lead?”

It then moves to a shot of Hilton herself, lounging by the pool in a leopard skin bathing suit and heels, who subsequently thanks the “wrinkly, white-haired guy” for endorsing her in the presidential race. ‘I’m, like, totally ready to lead,” she says. Indeed, she pitches a, dare we say, workable energy proposal that she describes as a “hybrid” of plans pitched by McCain and Barack Obama, including limited offshore drilling and tax incentives for fuel efficient cars. “Energy crisis solved,” she says. “I’ll see you at the debate, bitches.”

The McCain campaign, which defended its Hilton ad last week by saying they were merely trying to “inject a little humor” in the race, got the joke—though it was hard to tell from the stodgy response spokesman Tucker Bounds emailed to reporters: “Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan,” he said, noting that she had endorsed drilling. Aides on the road were more amused. In West Virginia, where the senator spent the night last night, McCain aide Mark Salter laughed as he watched the video on a reporter’s laptop. “Pretty great,” he said later. No word yet on if McCain himself has seen the video.

The Obama campaign, for its part, had only one word to say:

"Whatever."