Late last month, John McCain’s campaign released an attack ad on Barack Obama that essentially linked the Illinois senator to such celebrities as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. “He’s the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?” the commercial asked. Almost immediately, Obama supporters jumped all over the not-so-subtle implication that their man was nothing more than a pop culture trifle, a tabloid curiosity soon to be forgotten amidst a downfall of shame and sex tapes. It was a somewhat bizarre approach for the Republicans, especially since John McCain had so enthusiastically embraced the endorsement of Hills star Heidi Montag, a similarly flaxen celebrity known less for her political insight and more for her surgical enhancements. If the Obama people were smart/petty, they’d simply release the same ad, but with glowing footage of Heidi and her boyfriend Spencer joyfully hoisting a McCain banner over their Hollywood apartment.

Instead, however, Obama responded by dismissing McCain’s ad, saying the spot was essentially just one of many attempts to employ scare tactics on the voting public. “Nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky. That’s essentially the argument they’re making.”

Well. John McCain wasn’t about to take that sitting down. Campaign manager Rick Davis responded, “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck.” Consider this firestorm ablaze. Since these incendiary comments hit the airwaves, it’s been a full-on brawl — a veritable barrage of finger pointing with each candidate accusing the other of bringing up race first. It’s enough to make you almost forget that at the heart of it is none other than Paris Hilton, who’s managing to ignite controversy with her mere presence.

Of course, not everyone has forgotten Ms. Hilton’s role in this mess, especially not her grandfather William Barron Hilton, who not only is a co-chair of Hilton Hotels Corporation but also an avid supporter of John McCain. He’s already donated $18,400 to the Arizona Senator’s campaign (in addition to the $35,000 he’s already sent to the National Republican Senatorial Committee) so an attack ad on the opposition using his granddaughter as fodder may have not been the ideal approach.

According to political strategist Martin Eisenstadt, the word on the street is that William Barron has beenpositively livid about these latest shenanigans, allegedly calling the campaign headquarters furiously in the wake of the commercial’s debut. What he’s mad about, however, is still unclear. Is he more peeved that his granddaughter would be viewed as the nadir of society (surely he’s used to that by now)? Or is he angrier that Paris would ever be associated with a Democratic candidate? I like to think it’s the latter. After all, if the Hiltons were ever concerned about Paris’s tawdry reputation, they’d have locked her away in a tower years ago.

But whatever the cause of his agita, one thing is for sure: we now know what it takes to generate some outrage from the Hiltons. You’d think after a sex tape, a stint in jail, some fender benders, a mortifying reality show, and various other vapid, legacy-destroying incidents, we’d see some frustration or anger from the Hilton camp, but I guess those sorts of things are just commonplace for them. Plopping Paris in the middle of a silly campaign spot? Well, that clearly crosses the line. Call her a slut, call her an idiot, but whatever you do, do not call her Obama’s pal.

One thing you can say for the McCain camp: they managed to alienate a high profile donor, force the world to be reminded of a girl whose 15 minutes should have ended years ago, and raise the dreaded specter of race in one fell swoop. Talk about efficiency in advertising.

–Ben Mandelker