McCain hammers away at Obama's Ayers connection
John McCain yesterday ramped up his attempts to tar Barack Obama for his association with William Ayers, who along with his wife led a radical group that bombed government buildings in the early 1970s.
Urged by supporters at a Wisconsin town hall meeting yesterday to get tougher on Obama, McCain referred to Ayers for the first time. "We need to know the full extent of the relationship" to judge "whether Senator Obama is telling the truth to the American people or not," he said.
In an interview aired last night on ABC News, McCain added: "I don't care about two washed-up old terrorists that are unrepentant about trying to destroy America. But I do care, and Americans should care, about [Obama's] relationship with him and whether he's being truthful and candid about it."
McCain's campaign also put up a hard-hitting Web ad that calls Ayers a "terrorist," describes him as a friend of Obama's, and insinuates that Obama is hiding the truth.
The announcer cites portions of the record: that Obama and Ayers served on two nonprofit boards together during the mid-1990s, that Ayers hosted an event in his home where the local state senator introduced Obama as her hand-picked successor, and that Ayers once said, "I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough."
"When Obama just says, 'This is a guy who lives in the neighborhood,' Americans say, 'Where's the truth, Barack?' " the announcer continues before concluding, "Barack Obama: too risky for America."
The ad, of course, does not include Obama's explanation that by the time he met Ayers, Ayers was a respected education reformer in Chicago, and that he hasn't communicated with him since entering the US Senate in January 2005.
Obama told a Philadelphia radio host yesterday, "I assumed that he had been rehabilitated."
"This guy is not part of my inner circle, he doesn't advise my campaign, he's not going to advise me as president," Obama said, criticizing McCain for focusing on Ayers when the economy is in turmoil, calling the issue a "red herring."
FOON RHEE
Obama buys prime TV time for 6 days before election
To close the deal with voters, Barack Obama plans a 30-minute prime-time appearance six days before Election Day.
Obama campaign officials said yesterday that they had bought a 30-minute block of time on CBS and NBC at 8 p.m. on Oct. 29, a Wednesday. They are negotiating with other networks, including Fox, which is scheduled to air Game 6 of the World Series that night.
Advertising at record levels and outspending Republican rival John McCain, Obama has aired ads longer than the typical 30 seconds several times during the campaign, including a biographical one this week.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Court won't halt Palin ethics investigation
ANCHORAGE - The Alaska Supreme Court refused yesterday to halt an ethics investigation into Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
The ruling clears the way for lawmakers to release a report today on whether Palin abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner to settle a family dispute.
Her former public safety commissioner says he was dismissed after resisting pressure to fire a state trooper who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister.
Republican lawmakers had sued to block the report, saying it had become politicized.
In affidavits submitted Wednesday, Todd Palin and two of his wife's top aides said the firing resulted from continued wrangling over control of the agency and portrayed Sarah Palin as uninvolved while her husband repeatedly tried to spread the word that their former brother-in-law was unfit to be a state trooper.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NRA endorses McCain, bashes Obama's gun record
It's not a big surprise, but yesterday's formal endorsement of John McCain by the National Rifle Association could help him among the white working-class voters who could determine the winner in key swing states.
"John McCain has more than two decades of progun and prohunting votes in Congress," NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said.
But advocates for stricter gun laws noted that the NRA in 2001 called McCain "one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment" after he pushed to require criminal background checks at gun shows.
In its endorsement, the NRA instead highlighted McCain's votes against handgun restrictions, mandatory waiting periods to buy guns, national gun registration, and bans on hunting ammunition.
It also noted that McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is a hunter, gun owner, and an NRA life member. The NRA also bashed Barack Obama's record on gun rights.
Obama says he supports the right to gun ownership, but also says communities should be able to enact "common sense" regulations.
FOON RHEE 