All they've got left

The McPalin campaign is bankrupt and desperate. All they have left is character smear. They're banking on riling up Joe 6Pack, but they've got his vote anyway (maybe not even as many as they think, given that Obama is leading in MI, OH, PA, and pulling even in IN and NC, with a chance in GA, MO and even gaining in WV).

But guilt-by-association isn't going to work this time. First, there is a 10 ton truck bearing down, and they're hoping people won't notice they're about to get flattened, while they distract them with old news -- old in the sense that it happened many years ago, and old in the sense that it's already been hung out in the primaries and didn't do the job then.

There's even a quote out today from McCain's chief strategist saying "If we keep talking about the economy, we'll lose." Yes, indeed !!

Second, Obama's team is a lot smarter than any run before. They had an immediate response yesterday in an ad pointing out exactly what McCain was doing, trying to distract attention from the economic crisis by smear attacks on his character.

Then today, they release a pretty damaging online video documentary about McCain's role in the Keating scandal. But here's the beauty of the tactic: it isn't just an attack on McCain's character; it actually ties in the character issue with the economic crisis and casts blame on him for the deregulation craze that, at least in part, caused the meltdown. And that's what the Keating scandal was about, trying to get favorable treatment for cronies by getting around regulations in the Savings and Loan industry. The result? Thousands of people lost their life savings.

So Obama hits back hard but does it in a way that ties it to the overwhelming campaign issue, the economy, and at the same time casts doubt on McCain's character.

In contrast, McPalin have not offered even a tiny shred of evidence that Ayers' radical past has in any way influenced Obama in any of his policies or his behavior. Same for Jeremiah Wright. He didn't become a militant anti-government radical nor a government-hating black man. Quite the opposite. It's all just Joe McCarthy type guilt by association. And the American people were disgusted by that 50 years ago.

I think we're going to see a newly combative Obama in tomorrow night's debate -- hard hitting but backed up with facts and linked to issues.

Landslide in the making.

Ralph