This is not the way the Obama campaign wanted to spend day one of the convention, responding to negative ads. We will be hearing a lot about “dirty politics” in the coming days. I asked Jeff Jacoby last night if raising the Obama-Ayers connection was fair game or dirty politics, here’s that cut,
Strangely Timed Obama Response Ad on William Ayers
ABC News’ Tahman Bradley Reports: As Michelle Obama prepares for a primetime speech that will talk about her and Barack Obama’s American values, the Obama campaign is using a new television ad to take on the issue of Obama’s association with a 1970s radical who bombed the Capitol and Pentagon…
…A 501(c) 4 group, acting independent of Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign, last week, hammered Obama for his relationship with Ayers with a provocative television spot in Ohio and Michigan.
“Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama,” the spot by American Issues Project says.
Here’s the ad,
and here’s the response from Obama,
McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers’ crimes, committed when Obama was just eight years old. Let’s talk about standing up for America today.
Allah Pundit asks the right question,
the salient point isn’t how old Obama was when the crimes were committed, it’s how old he was when he formed the moral judgment that led him to associate with Ayers in the first place.
Rather than shy away from the ad, McCain joined the attack,
“The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama’s judgment than any TV ad ever could.â€
Things could turn around for the Obama campaign, the night is still young. Nancy Pelosi is speaking now. Lucky break, Wolf and AC360 talked right over her on CNN. Michelle Obama is coming up shortly. Hillary and the Gang tomorrow. Good times, good times.
UPDATE: Tom Maguire is not impressed with Obama’s response, or his strategy. In fact, he says it raises more questions than it answers,
Obama worked for five years with Bill Ayers on education reform while they were both with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Are we being asked to believe that, just as Obama initially claimed to have been unaware of Jeremiah Wright’s views, he was also unaware of Ayers current radicalism?
Coming soon – “That’s not the Bill Ayers I knew”.