WASHINGTON - Three months before Election Day, John McCain's stepped up aggression begs the question: Will voters vote for the scold?
A new ad launched Wednesday suggests Democratic rival Barack Obama is nothing more than a lightweight celebrity akin to a Britney Spears or a Paris Hilton. A previous ad took issue with Obama's canceled visit to injured troops. McCain has suggested Obama would rather lose a war than an election and ridicules him for the "audacity of hopelessness" in his Iraq policies.
"He's the biggest celebrity in the world," his latest ad asks. "But, is he ready to lead?"
Some Republicans welcomed McCain's confrontational strategy. New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen said Republicans in his state "like to see the McCain campaign on offense."
But in striking an aggressive pose, McCain is in danger of letting the caricature of an angry, petulant candidate take seed