Taking Off the Gloves

So, big news in politics over the weekend....McCain/Palin's campaign admits that it will fail if the focus remains on the economy, so instead, they'd like to make this campaign about character.

It is almost unbelievable-except, it is plastered all over the news. I'd never believe that John McCain, a respected Senator and Veteran, who pledged to run a respectful campaign, who condemned those during the democratic primaries who used Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein as a scare tactic to mislead voters about his religion, as well as those who tried to misconstrue comments made by Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright (See my old blog about that if you are not familiar) and condemn him for that association-that same man, John McCain, apparently did not give that memo to his running mate Sarah Palin. Guess he did not feel that strongly about running a clean campaign-or he would have told her to knock it off after she said the first time that Obama "pals around with terrorists." But then she repeated that claim-another association, proved during the primaries to be much ado about nothing-over FOUR times since first mentioning it on Saturday. WOW.

Not only that, she told commentator Bill Kristol that SHE thinks the Rev. Wright card should be played again. (Which makes sense, considering its obvious she paid no attention during the primaries or she would have known that these "associations" are old news, and the public has determined as much or nearly 20 million people would not have voted for him to be the nominee.)

Not only that, but John McCain, at a rally today, asked the crowd, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" When someone shouted out "Terrorist!" McCain raised his eyebrows. And he said....NOTHING. My friends, that is despicable. By saying nothing in response, John McCain has told me everything I need to know about his integrity.

I am truly outraged at what an ugly person John McCain has proved himself to be.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/06/1499935.aspx
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/06/1498235.aspx
http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/mccain-does-nothing-as-crowd-member.html

So in response, the Obama campaign has brought up one of Sen. McCain's less-than-desirable associations-one that the Obama campaign had previously insinuated they would not bring up as a campaign issue-the Keating 5 Scandal of the late 1980s. At first, I was a little upset that the campaign appeared to be participating in this little tit-for-tat game, because Obama has stated-repeatedly-that this campaign is about issues that affect Americans, not smear tactics. But, I also understand his need to defend his personal integrity, and I do remember that not fighting back to smear tactics is probably a large reason why John Kerry lost in 2004. Unfortunately, negative campaigning is a nasty part of politics, but everyone has the right to defend themselves. I certainly would!

The other side of this issue is that while Palin is trying to push a story with no merit, the Keating 5 scandal is actually a well-documented part of history, and almost derailed McCain's political career (he was a Representative, not a Senator, at the time). Cliff's notes version: McCain and 5 other Senators were investigated for their relationship with a corrupt businessman named Charles Keating (who gave over $100,000 to McCain's campaign alone, and paid for several McCain family vacations), who asked McCain and the other Senators for favors to get the feds off his back when his Savings and Loan bank crashed (costing the gov't around 2.5 billion-seems like small potatoes now, huh?) and while McCain was exonerated of any illegal activity (he attended 2 meetings, but did not act on Keating's behalf) he was declared to have shown "poor judgement," an assessment in which he AGREED with, and in 2002 in his autobiography called it "the worst mistake of my life" (apparently not his biggest regret-that, as we all know, is the "failure" of his first marriage, when he cheated on his wife repeatedly before meeting Cindy and then marrying HER 6 WEEKS after his divorce was finalized...yeah, sounds like he was real sorry about that).

What is most interesting about this scandal is that in short, McCain has led us to believe all these years that this was the turning point in his career-he felt so ashamed about his involvement-that he would dedicate himself to a mission of campaign finance reform as a form of penance to society, and hence the "maverick" was born out of this mess.

Problem with this NOW? Just today, McCain's lawyer said that the Keating 5 scandal was an attempt by the Democrats of the 1980's to smear McCain http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/mccain-now-saying-keating-five-scandal.html.

Um-excuse me? So now, nearly 30 years later, he is not only going back on everything he's ever said-that while he may have not done anything illegal, it was wrong to have been involved with Keating, that it was the "worst mistake of his life"-now he's saying none of that is true? He was either lying to us then, or he's lying to us now....either way, he's a liar. And if he is telling the truth NOW, then his whole "reformer" image has just gone down the drain.

I say...make up your minds on your own. Some recommended reading:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1 (A fascinating article....you could almost believe it was written today, and not in 1989)

Now...so no one can say I ignored this issue....the association that Palin is hell-bent on sticking Obama with is that of Bill Ayers. Look him up on wikipedia. Bill Ayers used to be a radical opponent of the Vietnam War, and committed a series of violent attacks as part of his protest and participation in a slew of anti-war groups. He was, at one point, labeled a domestic terrorist. Obama was 8 years old when these things happened.

Fast forward FORTY-40-count em-FORTY years into the future, Bill Ayers is not a respected member of the Chicago community, has raised three children, and is now a distinguished professor of education who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. He and Obama have both been involved in community projects together and live three blocks away from each other. Are all of Ayers' students "palling around with terrorists?" Are the other professors who sit in staff or department meetings with Ayers "palling around with terrorists?" Is every single person who has served on a community board with him left-wing radicals who wish to do our country harm? OF COURSE NOT. Come on-this is a ridiculous attempt to distract from the real issues of the campaign, which McCain/Palin clearly don't have a clue how to handle.