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The Huffington Post has flagged comments by John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, that suggest the McCain campaign might bring up Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, in the final weeks of the campaign.

McCain has previously declared Wright off limits.

"Look, John McCain has told us a long time ago before this campaign ever got started, back in May, I think, that from his perspective, he was not going to have his campaign actively involved in using Jeremiah Wright as a wedge in this campaign," Davis said on conservative host Hugh Hewitt's radio show. "Now since then, I must say, when Congressman Lewis calls John McCain and Sarah Palin and his entire group of supporters, fifty million people strong around this country, that we're all racists and we should be compared to George Wallace and the kind of horrible segregation and evil and horrible politics that was played at that time, you know, that you've got to rethink all these things. And so I think we're in the process of looking at how we're going to close this campaign. We've got 19 days, and we're taking serious all these issues."

Lewis compared crowds at Republican rallies to those at the rallies of George Wallace, a prominant segregationist in the 1960s. McCain called on Obama to repudiate the remarks at the last presidential debate.

Some Republicans, including GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have suggested that Wright, the pastor whose controvertial statements (among them "God Damn America") were widely publicized during the primary campaign, should get more attention. As Sam Stein notes, Palin at one point said she doesn't know "why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said."

In recent weeks, the McCain campaign has instead tied Obama to former Weather Underground member William Ayers, with whom Obama's relationship is far more tenuous.

The McCain campaign seems to think it has a good thing on its hands with its new television ad linking Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The spot, "Celeb," is now being used in a fundraising plea from the campaign.

After linking to the new spot, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis writes: "We agree that Senator Barack Obama may be the 'biggest celebrity in the world.' But as you and I know, simply attracting large crowds of fans with empty rhetoric doesn't prepare a person to lead a country. The more we get to know the real Barack Obama, the more he shows that he is not ready to lead our country."

The email goes on to ask "that you make a donation of whatever you can give to help us air this ad for millions to see."

Davis also sent a memo out earlier today reinforcing the message of the spot – and casting Obama as an arrogant elitist basking in "fans, paparazzi and media adoration." The criticism is reminiscent of that leveled at Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004.

Writes Davis: "Only a celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude could attract 200,000 fans in Berlin who gathered for the mere opportunity to be in his presence. These are not supporters or even voters, but fans fawning over The One. 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."

In a conference call this afternoon, John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, suggested that the campaign will "be looking at a unified budget of over $400 million" when all is said and done.

That "relatively conservative number," he added, will put the campaign "on par with what we believe the potential resources for the Obama campaign is going to be."

Davis said that the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee had $95 million cash on hand at the end of July – $26.7 million for the McCain campaign and $67.8 million for the RNC. (McCain's figure is down from the $31.5 million he had on hand at the end of May.)

He said McCain raised "just over $22 million" in the month of June – more than the candidate has raised in any previous month.

Davis also said that "the McCain campaign spends about $10 million a month less to run their campaign" than Obama, which he suggested has helped the campaign of the presumptive GOP nominee close the cash-on-hand gap on his rival.

Davis added that the McCain campaign has outspent Obama on advertising "just under three to one" since April, a factor he suggested could have helped keep Obama from maintaining a significant head-to-head advantage in national polls following Hillary Clinton's departure from the Democratic race.

Davis' suggestion that the campaign would have a $400 million budget results from his adding together the campaign and RNC's current cash-on-hand, the money he expects will be raised by the two groups' combined efforts from today ($95 million), the $84 million the campaign will get from the Federal Election Commission as a result of public financing, and various other fundraising efforts.

"We anticipate having over $210 million available to us from September up on to Election Day," Davis said. The Republican National Convention will take place at the beginning of September, and it is then, when McCain becomes the official GOP nominee, that he will take the public financing money. (Obama opted out of the public financing system.)

Davis estimated that 40 percent of the funds raised are coming as a result of a direct mail campaign, 20 percent is coming from the Internet, and the rest is coming from major donors. He said that McCain is presently doing about one fundraiser per day, excluding weekends.

Obama's campaign hasn't released his June numbers yet. In May, Obama raised $23.3 million and had $43.1 million on hand.

John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, has sent out a fundraising appeal that hits the theme McCain has been hammering over the past few days: That Obama's stated willingness "to sit down for an unconditional, face-to-face meeting with the leader of Iran is simply reckless."

"It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world without enemies," Davis writes. "But that's not the world in which we live, and until Senator Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment and determination to keep us safe."

Davis closes out the memo with a request for donations: " John McCain believes we need change in America, but not the kind of change that wins kind words from Hamas, surrenders in Iraq, or will hold unconditional talks with Iranian president Ahmadinejad. If you agree, please support our campaign for John McCain to become your next president by making a donation of $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, or up to the legal limit of $2,300."

Full memo below:

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