San Diego House challenger uses Paris Hilton in ad

Associated Press

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | 4:03 p.m.

Paris Hilton is appearing in another campaign ad, this time in a House race in San Diego.

Long-shot Democratic challenger Nick Leibham compares the heiress _ unfavorably _ to his Republican opponent, incumbent Brian Bilbray.

The commercial is set to air Thursday before GOP presidential nominee John McCain addresses the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

It pictures Hilton and Bilbray side by side _ Hilton in a bikini and Bilbray in a Hawaiian shirt. It says both are notable for doing nothing.

It comes on the heels of a McCain ad that compared the celebrity of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to that of Hilton. Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Hilton quickly posted a clever comeback to the McCain ad. The video showed her in a spoof commercial detailing her own plan for energy independence.

On Thursday, Hilton's manager did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Leibham commercial.

Campaign aides for Leibham, a lawyer, say the ad will begin running Thursday on all four major networks in the San Diego area. They declined to say how much they were spending.