Senator McCain accused Senator Obama of playing politics with race yesterday, raising the explosive issue after the first black candidate with a serious chance of winning the White House claimed Republicans will try to scare voters by saying he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” Until now, the subject of race has been almost taboo in the campaign, at least in public, with both sides fearing its destructive force. “I’m disappointed that Senator Obama would say the things he’s saying,” Mr. McCain told reporters in Racine, Wis. The Arizona senator said he agreed with campaign manager Rick Davis’s statement earlier that “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.” The aide was suggesting Mr. McCain had been wrongfully accused. In turn, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said, “We weren’t suggesting in any way he’s using race as an issue” but that Mr. McCain “is using the same, old low-road politics that voters are very unhappy about to distract voters from the real issues in this campaign.” A day earlier and in response to a hard-hitting McCain commercial, Mr. Obama argued that President Bush and Mr. McCain have little to offer voters so Republicans will resort to a strategy of fear to keep the White House.

McCAIN DEFENDS AD LINKING OBAMA TO HILTON, SPEARS

Senator McCain expressed pride yesterday in a new campaign ad that compares Senator Obama to a pair of Hollywood celebrities. The ad intersperses images of Mr. Obama’s appearance before cheering fans in Berlin last week with clips of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. It underscores Mr. McCain’s oft-stated criticism that Mr. Obama is more a press phenomenon than someone prepared to assume the presidency, but also led some Republican supporters of Mr. McCain to complain the ad was childish. “What we are talking about here is substance and not style,” Mr. McCain said, making his first comments about the ad after a voter questioned him about it. “Campaigns are tough, but I’m proud of the campaign we have run, I’m proud of the issues we have tried to address with the American people … All I can say is we are proud of that commercial.” In a conference call with reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Mr. McCain “kind of went into a ravine in Racine” for saying he was proud of the ad. “We can most assuredly tell you that voters around the country do not think there’s anything substantive about this latest ad, do not think it’s something that John McCain should be proud of,” Mr. Plouffe said.

RACE TIGHTENS IN KEY STATES, POLL SHOWS

The presidential race between Senators Obama and McCain appears to be tightening in three key battleground states, according to polls released yesterday by Quinnipiac University. The two candidates were statistically tied in Ohio and Florida, with Mr. Obama holding a two-point edge in each state, 46% to 44%, that was within the margin of error. The Illinois senator held a six-point lead in Ohio and a four-point advantage in Florida in the same poll a month ago. In Pennsylvania, the Quinnipiac survey showed Mr. Obama leading Mr. McCain by six points, 47% to 41%. His lead was 12 points in the state last month.

STEVENS PLEADS NOT GUILTY, GETS FAST TRIAL DATE

Senator Stevens of Alaska pleaded not guilty to corruption charges yesterday and received an unusually speedy trial date, which he hopes will clear his name before voters consider re-electing him in November. Mr. Stevens, a Capitol Hill bulldozer accustomed to winning political battles, wrangled control of the normally sluggish judicial process. The Senate’s longest-serving Republican faces a tough re-election fight and made it clear yesterday that he does not want his seven-count indictment getting in the way. “He’d like to clear his name before the election,” attorney Brendan Sullivan told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan added: “This is not a complex case. It should be one that moves quickly.” The Justice Department accuses Mr. Stevens of lying on congressional disclosure documents about more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations he received over seven years from a powerful oil field services contractor.