I think that McCain's "Celebrity" ad and the web follow-up "The One" are more damaging than a many people seem to believe, but I also disagree with those who counsel that Obama should come out swinging against McCain. That is what they want him to do: if McCain drags him into the gutter, Obama sacrifices his advantages as a visionary and a uniter.
Obama must respond, but not with a similar attack. He should take offense in a particular way. McCain overstepped with "The One," and it should offend Obama in a way that most voters can understand and appreciate: it should offend him as a Christian.
McCain, after all, charges Obama with blasphemy, raising himself to the status of false prophet and messiah. You may take it as "just another attack." It isn't. It is the religious equivalent of an accusation of high treason.
Obama can and should defend himself from such scurrilous attacks -- far worse than anyone has ever said about McCain's service record. Indeed, any future attacks on Obama as celebrity should be tied to this web ad so as to neutralize them.
Here is how a response from Obama might look; I'm sure better writers than me can refashion it:
OBAMA looking at camera.
When John McCain ran an ad comparing me to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, I didn't like it. I think it trivializes the serious situation we're in right now, and I'd rather talk about the issues. But I realized that if that is the sort of campaign he wants to run, I can't stop him.
The next day, though, John McCain ran an ad accusing me of blasphemy -- of putting myself up there with God. That offends me as a Christian. My role here on Earth, like everyone else's of any religion or creed, is to serve God, to love my neighbor, to help heal the sick, and to be a wise steward of the Earth. That is behind my foreign policy, my health care policy, my energy policy, and everything else. If I am fortunate enough to be elected President, I want to heal the nation and the world not for my own glory, but for the glory of the nation and its Creator.
I don't question John McCain's religious commitment, just as I don't question his patriotism. But I do question his judgment -- not only when it comes to policies, but when it comes to loose accusations of blasphemy to score cheap political points. We don't need that in this campaign -- or anywhere in our society. I hope that you will reject it too.
I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message.
Some people, I recognize, may not like the role that religion plays in Obama's campaign; I urge you to put those feelings aside for now. That is a choice -- perhaps strategic, but apparently heartfelt -- about how he wants to present himself to the public. While I feel presumptuous, as a Jew, to write about Christianity in the voice of a Christian, I have known enough good Christians over the years (and am, indeed, married to one) that I think I can reflect their sentiments passably well.
McCain's attacks are -- like the elitist attacks against Kerry and Gore and Dukakis -- part of trying to drive up resentment: the "he thinks he's better than you" vote. But this web ad was a grave misstep in that it lets Obama to say "no, I don't think I'm better than you, but I want myself and my nation to be as good as possible -- because it is part of my religious duty." It has the added bonus of further reinforcing to the people who think he is Muslim that he is a devout Christian.
Let's see how the apparently irreligious -- even anti-religious -- McCain deals with that sort of volley.