Yes, Obama needs to respond to the McCain campaign's Britney/vacuous celeb/uppity Black guy ads. Now. Here's my suggestion to Obama's campaign:

A new ad campaign of their own, featuring not Obama or a faceless narrator, but ordinary Americans, speaking to the camera and explaining why they strongly support Obama--why they show up at those big rallies, why maybe they've knocked on doors for his campaign, or simply how he won their vote and their respect.

Show it: It's not because they view Obama as a celebrity, not because they're foolish groupies, but because they're solid, smart Americans who've responded to Obama's plans to get us out of Iraq; expand health care coverage; take on our economic challenges; and finally do something real about both spiraling energy prices and onrushing global warming. And, because they believe Barack Obama will restore Americans' confidence in their president, and in the possiblity of democratic change that's by and for average Americans. Sunrise in America.

And, yes, also some folks who are dismayed and disgusted by John McCain's bizarre, ugly attack ads--the whole negative, bullsh-- character assassination stuff that gets us nowhere good--and can say so sensibly and convincingly.

Lots of different folks, of course--all ages, regions, ethnicities. Individuals, groups of folks, families.

In short, let Obama voters and supporters themselves put the lie to McCain's lies, and remind the Americans seeing McCain's trash ads why, in fact, so many  people are indeed streaming into those big campaign rallies. Because Barack Obama is of course not a celebrity, but an elected senator and a candidate for president, a political leader, whose apparent integrity, intelligence, grit and vision have encourged millions of Americans to support his candidacy at a time of crisis, in an historically important election. Serious stuff, and a long, long way from Britney Shields.

But you can't just say it, you look defensive; you have to show it.

The Republicans want to suck the hope out of Obama's campaign, and replace it with cynicism and division. Throw $10 million into a campaign such as I'm suggesting (right now, before the conventions), go big, especially in swing states--and you could knock a lot of that evil wind right out of McCain's sails.