Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) — Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in some of her sharpest attacks on Barack Obama, linked the Democratic presidential candidate to a domestic terrorist group from the 1970s, telling supporters Obama is someone who used to “pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
On Larry King Live tonight, surrogates for John McCain — picking up on arguments made by conservative columnists recently — tried to argue that Obama’s links to domestic terrorist Willaim Ayres says something damning about Obama’s judgment.
They’re not talking about his political judgment. They’re saying that his past associations (tangential, at best, by the way) show that his decision-making would be dangerous for America. The implication is that Obama shares the same radical worldview.
Put aside, for a moment, the fact that Larry King could hardly contain his laughter at the absurdity of the charge. Think, if you will, about what happens if we take the McCain campaign at their word.
Suppose they really are concerned.
We’ve know about the Ayres connection for a long time. Obama was asked about it, directly, by George Stephanopoulos in one of the final debates against Hillary Clinton.
So McCain knew all along about this connection. He knew that, as he’s now arguing, it was evidence Obama would be a dangerous, radical-style leader in the White House. And, yet, he only brings it up now?
What kind of judgment is that?
If you were running for president, and you knew your opponent represented a clear and present danger to your country, would you wait until four weeks before election day to bring it up — and only then, through surrogates?
I guess McCain is only “Country First” when the polls show he’s losing so badly, he has no choice but to go embarrassingly negative, swinging for the hills.
Tags: Palin
Josh:
So it’s too that good minds think alike. I love your point – why bring it up now? Isn’t a bit frightening to think of those who are foolish enough to buy one snow job after another. Misdirect… it just might work.
I wonder why he isn’t talking about solutions to the rapidly growing problems we face. I don’t think the average American gives a hoot that Obama knew Ayers. They are wondering how they might eat tonight or if they might have anything left when Dubya is through with us.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the post, Eileen!
I’m also starting to get nervous. The McCain-Palin rallies are getting very ugly, spurred on by McCain and Palin. At one, someone shouted that Obama was a “terrorist”. At another, someone shouted “kill him!”
The tenor of this is starting to remind me of the tenor in Israel on the eve of Rabin’s assassination. He’d go to rallies, and Jews would condemn him as Hitler, for actively pursuing peace with the Palestinians. I sincerely hope and pray the Secret Service is on high alert.