Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:16 am
In their most desperate attempt to scare voters away from Barack Obama yet, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said of Obama, “This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
While speaking to donors in Englewood, CO, Palin brought up Obama’s relationship with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, “There’s been a lot of interest in what I read lately. Well, I was reading my copy of today’s New York Times and I was really interested to read about Barack’s friends from Chicago. Turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to The New York Times was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, ‘launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.”
She then accused Obama and Biden of being unpatriotic tax hikers who pal around with terrorists, “These are the same guys who think patriotism is paying higher taxes. This is not a man who sees America as you and I do – as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. This, ladies and gentlemen, has nothing to do with the kind of change anyone can believe in – not my kids and not your kids. The only man who can take on Washington is John McCain.”
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Since we all know that Palin is not allowed to go off script, this is the strategy of the McCain campaign for the final 30 days. Their strategy is to question Obama’s character and patriotism. The problem is that it doesn’t answer voters’ questions about the economy or any of the other issues. The McCain campaign doesn’t get the fact that this isn’t an election about character. This is an election about the economy, and the Republican ticket has yet to come up with a plan to make our economy better.
This is an election about judgment, but not foreign policy judgment. The question for voters is who do you trust to lead us out of this economic crisis? So far, Barack Obama has been the overwhelming choice on this issue. Hillary Clinton tried to use the Bill Ayers stuff in the primaries, and it didn’t work. This is the second time that the McCain campaign has tried it, and it has not worked for them yet either.
These are the sort of weak attacks and distractions that people see through. People don’t care about Bill Ayers. They care about keeping their homes and jobs. They care about cost of food and gas. They care about their ability to get a loan, or their retirement accounts. It is interesting that while Barack Obama was talking about healthcare today in Virginia, Sarah Palin was talking about Obama in Colorado. One campaign is about issues, while the other is running on smears and distractions. This difference more than anything else, is why Obama is poised to win this election and become the next president of the United States of America.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
