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 Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:11 am Post subject: The Desperate John McCain Campaign |
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<h1>Desperate McCain campaign pushes Obama link to 1970s radical</h1>
<p class="byline">BY RICHARD SISK in Strongsville, Ohio, and DAVID
SALTONSTALL in Indianapolis
<br />DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
</p>
<p class="datestamp">
Thursday, October 9th 2008, 12:26 AM
</p>
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<div class="image-medium ">
<img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/10/09/amd_macb.jpg"
alt="John McCain's camp went heavily on the offensive against Barack
Obama (below) on Wednesday." />
<span class="photo-credit">Cain/Getty</span>
<p class="photo-description">John McCain's camp went heavily on the
offensive against Barack Obama (below) on Wednesday.</p>
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<img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/10/09/amd_bam.jpg"
alt="" />
<span class="photo-credit">Lyons/Getty</span>
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<p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/John+McCain" title="John
McCain">John McCain</a>'s campaign careened wildly between the high and
low roads Wednesday - a whiplash ride that suggested a growing
desperation to start catching up to <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Barack+Obama" title="Barack
Obama">Barack Obama</a>.</p>
<h4><a class="undefined" editor_id="mce_editor_0"
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/08/2008-10-08_john_mccain_calls_barack_obama_that_one_.html"
target="_self">RELATED: WAS MCCAIN RUDE TO OBAMA DURING DEBATE?</a></h4>
<p>Instead of the customary message of the day, there were two - in
jarring juxtaposition: </p>
<p>- McCain wants to help Americans save their homes. </p>
<p>- Obama's ex-Weather Underground "friend" would just as soon have
blown one up. </p>
<p>That came from a startling statement put out by the McCain campaign
from <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/John+Murtagh"
title="John Murtagh">John Murtagh</a>, a <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Yonkers"
title="Yonkers">Yonkers</a> city councilman and <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/U.S.+Republican+Party"
title="U.S. Republican Party">GOP</a> state Senate candidate. </p>
<p>Murtagh was referring to a 1970 firebombing of his family's upper <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Manhattan"
title="Manhattan">Manhattan</a> home, when his father, <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+State+Unified+Court+System"
title="New York State Unified Court System">New York State Supreme
Court</a> Justice John Murtagh, was presiding at a trial of Black
Panther radicals. The <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Weather+Underground+Organization"
title="Weather Underground Organization">Weather Underground</a> was
suspected in the attack, although no one was caught. "Barack Obama may
have been a child when <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/William+Ayers" title="William
Ayers">William Ayers</a> was plotting attacks against <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/United+States" title="United
States">U.S.</a> targets - but I was one of those targets," Murtagh said
in the statement. </p>
<p>Murtagh was 9 at the time;Obama was 8. </p>
<h4><a class="undefined"
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/content/news/politics/2008/10/08/2008-10-08_john_mccain_wants_to_buy_your_bad_loan.html"
target="_self">RELATED: McCAIN WANTS TO BUY YOUR BAD LOAN</a></h4>
<p>"Barack Obama's friend tried to kill my family," he concluded. </p>
<strong><p>Obama fired back on <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/ABC+Inc." title="ABC Inc.">ABC
News</a>: "Why don't we just clear it up right now: The notion that
somehow [Ayers] has been involved in my campaign, that he is an adviser
of mine, that ... I've 'palled around with a terrorist,' all these
statements are made simply to try to score cheap political points."
Obama has had only sporadic associations with Ayers, a distinguished
professor of education at the <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/University+of+Illinois+at+Chicago"
title="University of Illinois at Chicago">University of Illinois at
Chicago</a>, since meeting him in the 1990s. </p>
<p>McCain's strategy is loaded with risk, an ex-aide said. </p></strong>
<h4><a class="undefined"
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/08/2008-10-08_democrat_lawmakers_son_indicted_in_sarah.html"
target="_self">RELATED: INDICTMENT IN SARAH PALIN E-MAIL SNOOP</a></h4>
<p>"One risk is the potential for backlash," said former McCain
communications chief <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Dan+Schnur" title="Dan
Schnur">Dan Schnur</a>, referring to voters' limited tolerance for
negative attacks. "The other is that these personal allegations obscure
what McCain has to say about housing mortgages and other serious
matters." </p>
<p>"Obviously," added Schnur, "that's a risk they've decided is worth
taking." </p>
<p>At Tuesday's debate, McCain never mentioned Ayers, after days of
jabbing at him. He focused on the economy, including his $300 billion
plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. </p>
<p>Obama suggested McCain didn't have the chutzpah bring it up face to
face. "I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty
over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last
several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face," Obama said.
</p>
<p>Murtagh, who wrote about the attack in a Daily News Op-Ed in April,
said the McCain campaign tracked him down last week. </p>
<p>"The issue is really not an attempt on my family's life. The issue is
Barack Obama's judgment," Murtagh told The News. </p>
<p>Democratic vice presidential nominee <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Joseph+Biden" title="Joseph
Biden">Joe Biden</a> said the serious-minded debate questions from
average Americans showed voters are "looking for a steady hand,
leadership, an optimist - not an angry man lurching from one position to
another." </p>
<p>Obama, for his part, blasted McCain Wednesday for proposing "more of
the same Bush economics that led us to this point." </p>
<p>"I can take four more weeks of John McCain's attacks," Obama told a
boisterous crowd at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. "But the American
people can't take four more years of John McCain's Bush policies." </p>
<p>Appearing on <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/FOX+News+Network+LLC" title="FOX
News Network LLC">Fox News</a> last night with running mate <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sarah+Palin" title="Sarah
Palin">Sarah Palin</a>, McCain was asked if he thought Obama was
prepared to be President. "I don't," he replied. McCain earlier held a
rally with former Notre Dame and current <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Cleveland+Browns"
title="Cleveland Browns">Cleveland Browns</a> backup quarterback <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brady+Quinn" title="Brady
Quinn">Brady Quinn</a>. </p>
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