The Republican presidential candidate in a strongly worded statement against Russia’s military operations in Georgia on Tuesday said the United States and its allies “must stand united” in trying to persuade Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia.

McCain told reporters after he spoke by telephone with Saakashvili that the Georgian president knew that the “brave little nation” had the thoughts and prayers of Americans.

“I know I speak for every American when I say today we are all Georgians,” McCain said.

It is unclear what McCain meant by those words or what sort of deeds Saakashvili is expecting.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

The ad features McCain’s guest appearances on NBC’s comedy show “Saturday Night Live” and on talk shows that usually host celebrity guests.

It is unclear whether the new ad will prompt the kind of news coverage generated by McCain’s ad accusing Obama of being a celebrity like Paris Hilton, but Obama’s hard hitting ad accuses McCain of embracing Washington lobbyists “running his low road campaign.”

The 30-second ad also shows pictures of McCain hugging President George W. Bush and accuses him of “lurching to the right, then the left, the old Washington dance, whatever it takes.”

Click here to see Obama ad, which will start airing on U.S. cable stations on Tuesday.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Rebecca Cook (McCain and Obama at recent campaign stops).

The liberal Americans United for Change activist group launched the national tour on Tuesday with much fanfare and a lunchtime barbeque in front of the AFL-CIO union building a block away from the White House.

It’s a 28-ton, 45-foot long, bio-diesel-powered museum on wheels featuring interactive exhibits “on the worst policy failures that grew out of the Bush/conservative agenda,” touts the group.

The group has broader ambitions than just sharing its views on George W. Bush’s presidency. It is zeroing in on the conservative thinking Republican presidential candidate John McCain represents, said the group’s president Brad Woodhouse. 

“We are really talking about an ideology that Bush in many cases was a vessel for,” he said.

The bus features exhibits on Bush’s economic policies, the Iraq war, his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina and a gasoline pump comparing the price when Bush took office to what it costs to fill up now.

Not in the mood for a liberal history lesson? McCain sent a letter to supporters on Tuesday announcing a contest for a ride on his “Straight Talk Express” bus for some lucky donor.         

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- Photo credit: Americans United for Change

In an interview Thursday night with MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” the former spokesman for President George W. Bush said he was “intrigued by what Sen. Obama has been running on about changing the way Washington works.” 

In his tell-all book, “What Happened — Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” presents himself as a one-time true Bush believer who mistakenly fell in line behind a propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq.

McClellan said he also has respect for Republican candidate John McCain “for the way he has worked across the aisle with Democrats.” He says he is still considering who to support.

“I’m going to take my time and think it through,” McClellan told Olbermann, a harsh critic of Bush and his conservative allies.

McClellan began a publicity tour for his book on Thursday and gave his first television interviews to NBC, which has come under fire from the White House for its handling of a recent interview with Bush and comments he made about Iran.

The activists demanded to talk to McCain about his lack of support for legislation that would help poor handicapped people stay in their homes and out of nursing facilities.

McCain is the only presidential aspirant who has not endorsed the bill, said Bob Kafka, a spokesman for ADAPT, an activist group that staged the protest. Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton support the bill, he said.

About 500 members of the group are in Washington this week celebrating their 25th anniversary of community activism, Kafka said. About 40 protesters were in McCain’s office with another 50 outside the hallway shouting to see McCain. Hundreds of others staged another demonstration outside the Republican National Committee near the Capitol, he said.

Kafka said Medicaid rules are forcing people who need care into nursing institutions. “The main thing that drives our organization is the passion to live in our communities,” he said.

McCain’s office had no immediate comment on the protest. 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria (protesters follow McCain in Florida).

In a light-hearted exchange on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” show following her primaries victories in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas, Clinton offered the conservative leaning news network an exclusive.

“I have a little secret which I will only tell Fox … if you promise not to tell anybody else,” she joked. “You know what? I really am a human being. I know that’s hard to believe but it happens to be true.”

The New York senator, known for her toughness in the face of adversity, has been trying to show her lighter side in her contest against Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. In the days leading up to Tuesday’s crucial primaries Clinton poked fun at herself on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” show and the “Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

Clinton may have something else working in her favor as she tries to win the Democratic nomination battle — she was born in October. Former White House political adviser Karl Rove noted that more U.S. presidents were born in October than any other month.
“I mean, the omens are just stacking up.  What can I say?” Clinton responded.

Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton