Today on the presidential campaign trail

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IN THE HEADLINES

McCain, Obama call for emergency diplomatic meeting to deal with Russia's attacks on Georgia ... Obama tries again to rebut McCain's 'celebrity' taunts; new ad labels McCain biggest DC celeb ... Report says adviser told Hillary Rodham Clinton to cast Obama as un-American

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McCain, Obama urge diplomatic move against Russia

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama on Monday called for a multi-pronged diplomatic effort to force Russia to withdraw from Georgia, saying Moscow's relationship with the rest of the world depends on it backing down.

Both candidates said Europe and other nations must be united against Russia's widening assault against Georgia, U.S.'s closest ally among the democratizing former Soviet republics. And they said NATO should reconsider its decision to withhold a "membership action plan" for Georgia.

That decision "might have been viewed as a green light by Russia for its attacks on Georgia," McCain said.

Speaking to reporters in Pennsylvania, McCain said Russia appears intent on toppling the Georgian government rather than simply restoring the status quo in the pro-Moscow province of South Ossetia, which Georgia is trying to keep from breaking away.

"NATO's North Atlantic Council should convene in emergency session to demand a ceasefire and begin discussions on both the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to South Ossetia and the implications for NATO's future relationship with Russia," McCain said.

Obama also urged a multinational response but added that U.N. Security Council should play a major role in helping end the crisis.

"The U.N. must stand up for the sovereignty of its members and peace in the world," Obama told reporters during his weeklong vacation in Hawaii.

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McCain's 'celebrity' taunts are bugging Obama

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In a presidential campaign freighted with war, recession and energy woes, a jibe featuring Paris Hilton, of all things, seems to have struck a nerve in Democrat Barack Obama.

For the second time in two weeks, he aired a TV ad Monday rebutting Republican John McCain's claim that Obama is little more than a celebrity, like the blonde hotel heiress.

The first time, Obama dismissed the assertion as "baloney." On Monday, Obama took a different tack with a commercial that says McCain, not he, is "Washington's biggest celebrity."

A July commercial blaming Obama for high gasoline prices portrayed crowds chanting Obama's name. A subsequent ad mixed images of Obama on his recent European trip with video clips of pop figures Hilton and Britney Spears.

Obama is "the biggest celebrity in the world," the announcer said. "But is he ready to lead?"

Even some Republican strategists questioned whether the strategy was smart or dignified. And Hilton herself produced a video poking fun at McCain that drew large Internet viewership. But Obama's latest ad suggests the "celebrity" taunt has some sting, and efforts to dismiss it as silly have not been effective.

"They woke up this weekend and figured out that that ad resonated and they needed to do something about it," said Terry Holt, a Republican strategist.

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Report: Clinton told to cast Obama as un-American

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's top campaign strategist advised her to cast presidential rival Barack Obama as having questionable "roots to basic American values and culture" and use the theme to counter the image that his background is diverse and multicultural.

"I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values," Mark Penn wrote in a March 2007 memo to Clinton.

Clinton did not take Penn's advice, revealed by a report in the September issue of The Atlantic magazine.

The article says Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination went from front-runner status to failure for a number of reasons, from badly managed money to blistering warfare between advisers. Clinton did little to quell the infighting.

Mostly, the disputes were over whether to go negative against Obama, a half-black, Harvard-trained lawyer with a gift for soaring rhetoric and big themes.

Penn advised going negative.

Obama's background — he grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii — was a "lack of American roots," Penn wrote.

Penn's memos also contained prescient advice. The memo from March 2007 talked about the importance of a key voting bloc he called "the invisible Americans" — women and lower- and middle-class voters.

Those groups helped Clinton beat Obama in key states before she quit the race in June.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama vacations in Hawaii.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain talks to voters in York, Pa., before traveling to a fundraiser in New Jersey.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"We want Russia to play its rightful role as a great nation. But with that role comes the responsibility to act as a force for progress in this new century, not regression to the conflicts of the past." — Barack Obama.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

More than 37,000 Democrats in Hawaii participated in this year's caucus for either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton. In 2004, the number of Democratic caucus voters in the state was 4,000.

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Compiled by Lou Kesten and Ann Sanner.

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