McCain, VP Hopeful Ridge Campaign in Pa.

Republican vice presidential hopeful Tom Ridge is campaigning with John McCain in Pennsylvania today, CNN reports. McCain and ex-Pennsylvania governor Ridge started the day meeting with employees at a GE plant. Asked what he would do on first taking office, McCain replied, “Call Tom Ridge to Washington from whatever vacation he is taking and get him to work."

McCain called on NATO to intervene in the Russia-Georgia conflict, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s campaign released a new attack ad playing off the McCain campaign’s “celebrity” charge. Linking the Arizona senator to President Bush, the ad charges that McCain has been "Washington's biggest celebrity" for years, and that "as Washington embraced him, John McCain hugged right back." (More John McCain stories.)