McCain: Not Presidential Material

NEW: Leonard Pitts, Jr. (Detroit Free Press) writes:

"My 401(k) is down $21,000 since the end of September. And John McCain thinks I should be worried about William Ayers.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these are strange days. And it's difficult not to empathize with the Arizona senator, who has spent these last weeks flailing like a man trying to hit a fastball in the dark. His campaign has lurched about looking for ways to connect; the attempt to tie Barack Obama to Ayers, a onetime '60s radical, is among the most desperate and disappointing.

It is worth remembering there were once two compelling arguments for a McCain presidency. The first, he was a man of long experience, and experience matters. The second, he was a man of honor, of such fierce moral courage that he would never put that which was political above that which was right.

McCain took the first argument off the table when he chose as his running mate the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a woman of such meager substance that even conservatives have been lining up to denounce her. He is now in the process of taking a sledgehammer to the second argument. It's not a pretty sight...."

• Bob Shrum: Time to Ask McCain: "Have You No Sense of Decency Left?":

  "The McCain campaign crossed the line today from negative character attacks to the kind of character assassination that plays to the basest impulses and incites the most dangerous reaction."

• McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort

  "William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
  
  The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government...."

• McCain's Dirty Domestic Terrorism Associations | Election 2008 | AlterNet

  MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has a very interesting report on McCain's own 'character' and 'judgment.'

• t r u t h o u t | Politics of Attack:

  "�It is a sorry fact of American political life that campaigns get ugly, often in their final weeks. But Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember."

• A List of McCain's Nastiest Moments | Election 2008 | AlterNet

  "Think there's no way that John's actually that bad? You haven't seen this list...."

• McCain Defends His Own Association With Unrepentant Criminal: It's Ok, He Went To Jail

  "After weeks of hammering Barack Obama for having an association with a former Weather Undergound member, John McCain was asked Thursday afternoon about his own connections to a past felon: G. Gordon Liddy...."

• McCain/Palin supporters let their racist roots show | Crooks and Liars (VIDEO)

  "It was kind of strange, dintcha think, that John McCain came to the defense of his supporters last night after Barack Obama pointed out that people at McCain/Palin rallies were shouting out "terrorist" and "kill him!" in reference to Obama.
  
  Now an Al Jazeera camera crew caught the honest sentiments of McCain/Palin supporters at an Ohio rally..."

• Chuck Lasker: No Excuse For Dirty Politics

  "I am tired of hearing that the McCain campaign must go negative, that they "have no choice." The assumption is that a campaign MUST do whatever it takes, no matter how dirty and nasty, to win. They're wrong. There is another choice.
  
  The latest dirty, baseless accusations that Obama "pals around" with a terrorist are the worst yet. It has incited violent threats, and implies that a good patriot would do anything to keep Obama from becoming president. Shouts of "kill him" and "terrorist" are examples of how far the rhetoric has come, and John McCain seems to be fine with this kind of hate...."

• RNC Mailer: What Does Obama Want From Islamic Terrorists?

  More vicious, dishonest fear tactics directed at Barack Obama from the self-proclaimed American Hero McCain....

• MUST READ: ACORN Fires Back, Claims McCain Ignored Impending Crisis

  ...[I]n last night's debate, McCain accused ACORN of "maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
  
  Today, the group fired back by releasing a report, 'ACORN vs. McCain: The Real Story of the Financial Crisis 1999 to 2008,' attacking McCain for his lack of warnings about the impending subprime mortgage crisis last year.
  
  Austin King, the director of the ACORN Financial Justice Center, writes..."

• ACORN: McCain And GOP Used To Be Supporters


• Wave Of McCain Robocalls Reported, Some May Violate State Law


• Diane Tucker: Cindy McCain's Attack On Obama's Record Offends Military Spouses


• Amy Zalman: Improving America's Reputation -- McCain Would Lecture, Obama Would Listen:

  "Since 2003, international polls have consistently revealed worldwide distaste for American foreign policy in the Middle East; the Bush Administration's 'war on terror'; the Iraq war; and the American disregard for international conventions regarding detainee treatment. In combination with recent concern among foreign publics that the United States adversely affects their own national economies, these views amount to the collapse of America's reputation around the world...."

• Times Exposes Anti-Semitic Obama Slanderer, Finally

  "...By any measure, it would appear that Barack Obama has had the worst of it this election season, but John McCain is no stranger to those sorts of attacks, either. Nor is he a stranger to those sorts of attackers, having hired them to work on his campaign...."

Technorati tags: John McCain, politics, personal destruction, character assassination, smears, lies, swift-boat, dirty politics, William Timmons, lobbyist, Saddam Hussein, attack, racist, Palin