October 12, 2008 10:24:28 AM CDT
(Newser) – There are two races for president this year, Michael Tomasky writes in the Guardian, “a race about Barack Obama and a race about what the GOP has done to the country.” And Obama would be well served to turn the focus to John McCain, whose recent gaffes have gone unanswered as the Democrat tries to make people vote for him—and not against his opponent.
It will be easier for Obama to attach his rival to the failed Republican experiment than convince a skeptical public of his patriotic bona fides, Tomasky writes. “Most of all, Obama needs to make the race about GOP failures and persuade people that McCain will continue them. ‘McCain equals Bush's third term’ is a decent slogan. But they need to paint in the canvas.”
Source Guardian (UK)
1 hour, 11 minutes ago The McCain campaign has crossed the line from negative campaigning to “inciting vigilantism” with racist tactics that should raise alarms about Barack Obama’s safety, writes Frank Rich in the New York Times. Particularly troubling is Sarah Palin’s repeated linking of Obama to “terrorists” and her refusal to quell the frenzy—and cries of “kill him!”—her rhetoric incites at rallies. More »
Oct 11, 08 1:07 PM CDT Barack Obama took a moment this morning to thank John McCain for attempting to rein in his angry crowd yesterday. “Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric,” Obama told a rally in Philadelphia today. “I appreciate his reminder that we can disagree while being respectful of each other.” McCain had asked his crowd to exercise such respect and quickly cut off a supporter who called Obama “an Arab terrorist.” More »
Oct 11, 08 7:51 AM CDT A raucous Republican rally didn't take kindly to John McCain's defense of Barack Obama yesterday, the New York Times reports. The crowd jeered when McCain said his rival was not someone "to be scared of as president" in response to concerns expressed by a member of his audience. But McCain's defense of Obama was quickly followed by a fresh assault linking the candidate to a political "radical." More »
Oct 10, 08 5:16 PM CDT Going so far as to call him a “pig,” Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell has launched a full-on war of words with Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh called Mitchell a "racist nutball" and ridiculed her and other “drive-by journalists” for saying Sarah Palin and John McCain should restrain supporters at their rallies, some of whom have shouted "kill him" and "terrorist." More »
Oct 10, 08 2:01 PM CDT Wall Street is reeling, but the real depression has set in among Republicans who seem resigned to losing the White House. "Yet for all the gloom, there are several reasons why this race is by no means over," Victor David Hanson writes for the National Review. The neocon Democrat sees "certain deer-in-the-headlights moments among Obama’s handlers." More »
Barack Obama • John McCain • Election 2008 • opinion • presidential politics • political strategy
