Thank you, John McCain, for bringing Paris Hilton and Britney Spears into the presidential elections. Due to your recent “Celeb” campaign ad, the mindless masses are now paying attention. Your ad has had more than 1.8 million hits on YouTube, it has been played on network and cable news stations, and it has raised comments from hundreds of watercoolers across the nation. The thousands of references to this ad, the rebuttal by Paris Hilton, and the free air time would normally lead me to conclude that this was a genius advertising move. It is better to have bad publicity than no publicity, right? Wrong. Perhaps that is true for actual “celebrities” like Paris and Britney, but not for someone trying to become the President of the United States. Barack Obama is not a celebrity – he is a “symbol”. And what about other “icons” turned “politicians”? Ronald Reagan? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Aren’t they from your own political party? Don’t you think if Paris and Britney can bring more attention to a campaign than even the most fierce battle over taxes and foreign policy, then there is something already amiss going on? My condolences for your impending loss.