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McCain Blasts Obama At Rally

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2008

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that questions about Democratic rival Barack Obama's association with a former war protester linked to Vietnam-era bombings are part of a broader issue of honesty.

In his strongest personal criticism since his faltering campaign began casting Obama as an unknown and unacceptable candidate, McCain told supporters that Obama had not been truthful in describing his relationship with former radical William Ayers. The Arizona senator also said Obama has "a clear radical, far-left pro-abortion record."
Loud cheers from 4,000 people gathered at a sports complex near Milwaukee greeted McCain's attacks over Ayers, who helped found the Weather Underground, a Vietnam protest group that bombed government buildings 40 years ago. Obama has pointed out that he was a child at the time and first met Ayers and his wife, ex-radical Bernadine Dohrn, a quarter-century later.

"Look, we don't care about an old, washed-up terrorist and his wife," McCain said. "That's not the point here."

"He's a terrorist!" a man in the audience screamed without making clear to whom he was referring.

"We need to know the full extent of the relationship," McCain replied. Later, McCain told ABC News: "It's a factor about Sen. Obama's candor and truthfulness with the American people."

Obama has denounced Ayers and his violent actions and views. He dismisses McCain's criticism as an effort to "score cheap political points."

AP and other news organizations have reported that Obama and Ayers, a college professor who lives in Obama's neighborhood, are not close but that they worked together on two nonprofit groups from the mid-1990s to 2002. In addition, Ayers hosted a small, meet-the-candidate event for Obama in 1995 as he first ran for the state Senate.

David Axelrod, a senior campaign adviser, says that Obama, who was a child living in Indonesia and Hawaii in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was not aware of Ayers' radical past at the time of that campaign event. Some McCain supporters have expressed skepticism about that.

Some of those at the rally questioned why McCain was trailing Obama and why no one was talking about Obama's past associations.

Obama's history with Ayers was explored during the primaries in news reports and in a campaign debate.

PALIN REPORT DUE OUT TODAY

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The state Supreme Court refused on Thursday to halt an ethics investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee.

The ruling clears the way for lawmakers to release a report today on their investigation into whether Palin abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner. Her former public safety commissioner says he was dismissed after resisting pressure to fire a state trooper who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister.

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