“What you’re going to see is a great debate. Which is what the American public deserves. None of this negative stuff, though. You won’t see it come out of our side at all.”

–Cindy McCain, Today Show, May 8, 2008

The Obama campaigns response to McCain “celebrity” ad:

Apparently, the McCain is just starting to come to grips with the fact that Barack Obama is a celebrity. Today, they cut this awe-inspiring (enter snark) ad pointing out that, like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, Barack Obama is also well known around the world.

Okay, I understand what they’re trying to do. They want to make Obama into this messianic figure who is too big for politics and too star-studded to deal with the problems Americans are facing. In fact, this ad might even work with some voters. However, it’s flimsy and it reeks of desperation. As Tim Kaine told us yesterday, they are trying to stop a runaway bus and they are grabbing onto anything they can in order to slow the momentum down. In the meantime, they are discrediting their candidate who pledged civility and who said he wanted to run a positive, constructive campaign.

I hope this ad backfires. I hope the McCain campaign will spend their money on talking about issues, like Obama has been. I hope they will stop this silly attempt to define Obama as something that he’s not and I hope that Obama will aggressively repudiate these ads and remind voters the stakes of this election. (Wow, that’s a lot of hopes!)

On a lighter note, I guess Britney Spears and John McCain do have more in common than we thought:

UPDATE: Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod responds.

What a day for DoubleSpeak! This morning we scored an interview with Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and were able to be among the first people to ask him about the Washington Post’s reports that he sits atop Senator Barack Obama’s shortlist for Vice-President.

We’ve posted over at HuffingtonPost’s OffTheBus but wanted to give some love to all you DoubleSpeakers out there too. Here’s the recap as described on the HuffPo:

Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia woke up this morning to a new reality. He is, as reported by the Washington Post, on the short list to be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate.

Kaine’s monthly radio appearance to discuss local issues pre-scheduled for today on WTOP radio in Washington, DC, was cast in different, higher intensity light. Kaine was joined by his colleagues DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

It was quite a scene with a catered buffet (which included an omelet station) and a throng of reporters waiting to get an answer to the question of the day: will Kaine be Obama’s Vice-Presidential pick?

Immediately following the radio broadcast, we were able to get a few minutes with the Governor and ask a number of questions about his personal reaction to the attention he’s receiving and to get his response to Sen. McCain’s recent attacks on Sen. Obama’s overseas trip.

Kaine on McCain’s campaign:

“It’s just desperation. They’re just looking for a handle to grab on and slow the momentum of this bus down. And, it’s a different strategy every couple of days. It really has the air of desperation about it.”

Kaine on Vice-Presidential Speculation:

“…I’m not going to make the case for myself because that’s not why I’ve endorsed Senator Obama…”

“And, it still seems unlikely to me, it’s nice being mentioned. My Mom likes it, you know, but look, I got on board in February of ‘07 because I knew the country needed a change in direction and from a good Democratic field– I thought the field was a good field– he just struck as the guy who could change the direction of the nation. I’m just so gratified by the way the campaign has been run and the chance we have nationally but also in Virginia.”

“It’s a little surreal. It’s surreal to be mentioned and again it’s nice to be considered but I know there’s a lot of folks they’re looking at– there’s a lot of different skills and attributes that they have to weigh– personal, geographic, political — a whole series of things. But, you know, I have grown to have tremendous confidence in Barack’s judgment, in the judgment of his team, in very hard moments along the campaign, you know, I’ve kind of been with him when things were going well and not so well but they’ve always, in a cool and deliberate way, made a good judgment, and I have no doubt that the pick they make is going to be a strong one.”

For more images click here.

A very special thank you to our talented photographer Kate Sokolov who negotiated her way through the gaggle of reporters to get some great pics. We also want to thank Governor Kaine’s staff for allowing us great access during the WTOP interview and for granting us one of the only one-on-one interviews of the morning.

I just took a screen shot of the Republican National Committee’s website. Notice the countdown clock still reads 925 days, 01 hours, 07 minutes, 00 seconds since Barack Obama has last visited Iraq.

Did the RNC miss something? Wasn’t Obama in Iraq this past week meeting with Iraqi leaders, soldiers and commanders on the ground?

Why hasn’t the RNC changed their countdown clock?

Another great video from JibJab.

Oh..Snap…

McCain Responds…

Last week on MSNBC, I was debating Obama’s southern strategy and his appeal to African-American voters in states that aren’t traditionally Democratic.

Today, Rep. Adam Putnam, who is a Republican and also Chairman of the House Republican Conference confirmed that even the GOP is worried about Obama’s Southern appeal.

No, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, doesn’t think John McCain is in any real danger of losing Florida, given McCain’s natural appeal to veterans, independents, and pro-Israel voters. But the Chairman of the House Republican Conference thinks Barack Obama’s ability to turn out African-Americans voters across the south could pose trouble for some Republican incumbents in states that McCain will still carry.

“I think you’ll see House members who won their last race by 60%-65% percent lose because of the turnout model that Obama brings,” said Putnam after taping a Political Connections interview on Bay News 9. He wasn’t talking about any Florida seats, but his pick for the five races to watch in Florida: the seats held by Democrat Tim Mahoney, by the Diaz-Balart brothers, by Tom Feeney, and by Ric Keller.

On top of that, check out this Gallup headline…McCain Faces Enthusiasm Gap.

Another weird moment on the Straight Awkward Talk Express.