Obama questions everyone’s judgement but his own

If there is one thing that really annoys me about this election, it is the way Obama constantly accuses others of fighting dirty and distracting the public from the real issues when his campaign does the exact same thing often in the same breath.

Any criticism of Obama is a smear, a distraction and a sign of desperation; has been since the Democratic Primary.  Obama’s past is off limits but his opponents past and associations, not matter how long ago or how flimsy, are fair game.

The latest example is of course the Keating Five.  Since McCain was going to talk about Obama’s connection to Bill Ayers and other questionable characters in Chicgao Obama blasted out attacks based on McCain’s history in this Savings and Loan Scandal.

But team Obama is content just to attack McCain on something he has already apologized for and explained ad nauseum, no they attack him on the scandal even as they use John Glenn as a surrogate.  Nice.

I think Ed Morrissey captured this best:

Is the Keating 5 scandal a legitimate political issue in this campaign?  Yes.  It involves McCain’s judgment and political record, and Obama can certainly raise it as a point for voters to consider.  However, McCain has never denied using poor judgment in this case and has repeatedly apologized for it.  He used that experience to commit himself to reforming the political system, angering fellow Republicans in fighting earmarks and pushing for campaign-finance reform.  He has put his political career at risk with his partnerships with Russ Feingold and other Democrats in this mission, all of which springs from his close brush with dishonor over the Keating 5 scandal.

Obama, on the other hand, has never fought anyone for reform, and the use of John Glenn as a surrogate makes Team Obama especially hypocritical in raising the Keating scandal.  If Glenn is clean, then so is McCain.  If McCain is tarnished, then so is Glenn.  Obviously, Glenn helps Obama in Ohio, so Obama has no real complaint over the Keating 5 scandal that outweighs his desire to win the election.  Like so much of Obama’s reform rhetoric, his faux outrage over the Keating 5 scandal shows him as nothing more than a poseur.

Related Reading:

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The real Ayers issue: it's about revolution, not terrorism.(2008 V)(Ayers, Bill): An article from: National Review

Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist