Obama ad takes heat for McCain cyber shot
Insensitivity to war injuries cited
WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama's campaign came under fire from conservative bloggers yesterday for a new political ad criticizing his 72-year-old opponent, John McCain, for not using computers.
The National Revew Online and other Republican-leaning websites said the charge was unfair, citing several articles, including stories several years ago in the Boston Globe and Slate.com, that indicated injuries McCain sustained when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam prevent him from using a keyboard.
McCain suffered broken bones that still prevent him from fully lifting his arms and has lost mobility as a result of fractured fingers.
Calls to the Obama campaign weren't returned yesterday. On Friday, before the latest round of criticism from the bloggers, Obama's campaign defended the ads.
The McCain campaign itself did not take issue with the Obama ad, and spokesmen for the Arizona senator did not return calls seeking comment.
McCain, who has referred to himself as a computer "illiterate," has never cited his war injuries as the reason why he doesn't use e-mail or never learned other computer skills.
For example, when asked by Politico.com earlier this year what type of computer he uses, McCain responded: "I am an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all the assistance that I can get." In other interviews, he has said he never saw the need to use e-mail because of his staff support.
Earlier, in a March 2006 interview with Fortune magazine, McCain said his work style didn't require computer usage. But he did not cite his injuries.
"I read my e-mails, but I don't write any," McCain said. "I'm a Neanderthal - I don't even type. I do have rudimentary capabilities to call up some websites, like the
The new Obama ad, part of a more aggressive strategy that began Friday to portray McCain as representing old ideas, says of the GOP candidate: "He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," it says.
The Globe story cited by Obama critics yesterday, published during McCain's first run of the presidency in 2000, said in part that "McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes." 