A new John McCain ad will air tonight in key battleground states, about the time Barack Obama is set to give his acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver. The ad will reportedly feature McCain speaking directly to Barack Obama, looking into the camera!

Tonight, John McCain will talk directly to his opponent in a television ad his campaign is airing in battleground states, around the time Barack Obama accepts the presidential nomination, McCain's campaign said.

Aides would give few details beyond the fact that McCain will speak directly to the camera, addressing Obama.

The strip-tease on the ad is one of several moves by the McCain campaign that could distract attention from Obama's big night.

The campaign was fueling speculation about his running mate, who is to be named at a McCain rally in Ohio tomorrow. A top campaign official says McCain has settled on his vice presidential choice and will notify the person today.

Matt Drudge of The Drudge Report, who has high-level McCain contacts, posted a tease this morning saying: "SOURCE: NAME MAY LEAK AT 6 PM ET... WITH SOME SORT OF CONFIRMATION AT 8 PM."

Obama is scheduled to speak between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern before a crowd of about 75,000 at a Denver stadium where the final session of the Democratic National Convention is being staged.

The leak of the McCain ticket mate would cause a news frenzy at at time when the Obama campaign wanted viewers to be focused on Obama's economic and change messages.

McCain campaign communications director Jill Hazelbaker said in an MSNBC appearance that the battleground spot is "an historic ad — I think this is the first of its kind."

"Sen. McCain is going to have an ad that's going to air in battleground states around the time that Sen. Obama is speaking tonight," Hazelbaker said. "He's going to be talking directly to his opponent. So, I'm going to leave it there. But it's going be very exciting. I think that a lot of people are going to focus on it."