Britney Spears, Paris Hilton….Obama?

Aboard the Obama campaign bus from Springfield to Rolla, Mo. — Sen. Barack Obama’s been compared to a lot of folks during the course of this campaign. John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Icarus and, in jest, Jesus. Now, the McCain campaign has found a new parallel figure: K-Fed’s ex, Britney Spears.

"Barack Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world," wrote campaign manager Rick Davis in a memo circulated by spokesman Brian Rogers, "comparable to Tom Cruise, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. As he told congressional Democrats yesterday, he has become the ‘symbol’ for the world’s aspirations for America and that we are now at ‘the moment … that the world is waiting for.’"

Davis went on to write: "Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew — Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula."

Normally in this slot I’d come with a witty comment, usually involving Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer or Reds rookie outfielder Jay Bruce. But I’ll just leave you with the image of Us Weekly editor Janice Min deciding who to put on its cover–Paris Hilton falling-down drunk outside a nightclub or Obama speaking to 200,000 people in Berlin. Dude, seriously, there are no words.