Keating Issue Not Exactly an October Surprise
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, McCainThe Barack Obama campaign has decided to wait until October before hitting John McCain with the most obvious attack available. The Keating Five scandal. Problem is, since when is 20-year-old news an October surprise?
I assume there are a fair number of voters who know little or nothing of Charles Keating and/or had no idea McCain was mixed up in that mess. But I’m also assuming that, for most voters, the rebuttal of “it happened 20 years ago, I was cleared of any wrongdoing” will be a sufficient answer. This matter smacks of the kind of partisan issue that riles the base, pisses off the opposition and leaves independents rolling their eyes.
Now, to be clear, I’m not exonerating McCain’s actions 20-years ago. His relationship with Keating was distasteful. But McCain learned from his mistakes. He has spent the subsequent years of his career committed to limiting the influence of money in politics (see: McCain-Feingold). Whether he’s actually been true to his principles is up for debate. But clearly he has made an effort to atone for his poor judgment and even he admits he made unwise choices and learned from the experience.
I understand that Obama supporters want that magic bullet that will take McCain out. This isn’t it. If it was, McCain would have gone down long ago. But, from a purely political standpoint, I like the patience and timing the Obama campaign has shown by holding onto this well-known issue until the last minute. It’s no “surprise” but this is October and any negative coverage of your opponent is positive coverage. Even if the issue is 20 years in the ground.
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October 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I sincerely doubt that anyone with the Obama campaign thought that bringing up the Keating 5 was a magic bullet. It was probably something they didn’t even plan on bringing up unless the McCain campaign decided to go into Rove mode.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
My sense (based on timing) is that this is a response to the McCain camp dredging up the tenuous Ayers connection. If the McCain camp can talk about Ayers, the Obama camp can talk about Keating.
IMO, neither line of attack is terribly meaningful, although McCain may have given the Keating story a bit more play by reversing his previous contrition about the Keating incident. In the past, he’s described his connections to Keating as bad judgment on his part, today his camp decried the Keating investigation as a partisan witch hunt. Those two approaches are at odds with each other, and they’re bound to get the story more play.
Plus, in the current financial crisis, the Keating story and McCain’s anti-regulation bias have some relevance.
I agree though, this is not a magic bullet to take McCain out, but then again, I’m not sure such a bullet is really necessary.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
What Jim S said…
The only real surprise in all of this is how openly the McCain campaign telegraphed its kitchen sink tactic.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I am with the first two commenters. This is purely defense mode from the Obama campaign. Over the weekend, the Mccain camp told the media flat out that they were going after the “guilt by association” meme… ayers, rezco, wright. Then palin threw the first punch. Did you think he would just sit there and be swiftboated, with no response?
October 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Actually, ASC, your take on this is exactly how Republicans want to frame this issue. Unfortunately, it’s very relevant to today’s financial crisis, since it shows McCain’s love affair with deregulation, and it directly ties to McCain, unlike Ayers, which this is a response to.
As usual, the McCain camp is left looking foolish, as there is just as much talk today about the Keating 5 as Ayers, which was already a rehash of an old story. Further, McCain’s camp, in their infinite folly, decided the best way to approach this is to try to claim that McCain was smeared in a partisan witchhunt. Interesting tactic, considering McCain has admitted fault and it was a largely Democratic scandal. It also undercuts McCain’s reformer reputation, since he points to Keating 5 as the reason for his late life focus on reform.
All in all, just a political loser all around for McCain. But we’ve come to expect that in his train wreck of a campaign.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
They’ve obviously had this in the wings for awhile. Obama camp said don’t get dirty or we’ll hit back - it wont be the first punch, but we’ll get in the last.
With Palin’s “palling around with terrorists” line, and McCain camp hitting hard on the ayers/acorn stuff, it doesn’t surprise me that they’d hit back with this.
If the Obama camp had really wanted to win or thought it would matter, they would have released it closer to Nov 4th. My feeling is they were trying to bring the economy back into focus.
It certainly will even out the Mccain attacks.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I thought this was a pretty good move. It is not a magic bullet and i seriously doubt it any one is expecting it to be. The response of 20 years ago cleared may have worked to some extent except that he has admitted wrong doing in a number of situations and has said this is the catalyst for his change to a reformer. Now comes out saying nothing wrong ever happened. If nothing wrong ever happened what changed him into a reformer?
October 6th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
What everyone else said…
October 6th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Alan…
I know it’s hard to let go of the attachments, man, but that stuff is old. It’s old, it’s dingy, it’s yellow, it’s crusty. It’s gotten so bad, it’s ruinin’ your high, man. Givin’ you bad trips.
So take my advice, man. Stumble on over to the Wal-Mart or 7-Eleven or Lone Star Ice House… whatever’s in your neighborhood. Go over to the housecleaning area, and pick yourself up a new package of Chore Boy scouring pads. Those nice heavyweight steel wool ones, alright?
Then, go home… take that old, nasty, grungy, yellowed-up, 8-year-old scab you’ve got wedged up in there… and replace it with a nice, shiny, fresh piece of that Chore Boy.
That’s right… you need a new filter in your crack pipe, Cochise. That old stuff has got your thinking all muddled up.
Change the filter… go out to the corner and score yourself some fresh rock… then light up and get some perspective on things. Don’t be a lightweight on that, either–spend some money, get your rocks on.
‘Cause, you know… this is just embarassing…
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
October 7th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Wow Alan, perhaps your most partisan drivel yet! 20 year old scandal that McCain was directly involed with is old news but but 40 year old “terror” plot that Obama had nothing to do with (he was 8) is big news? I think you knew, as everyone here has pointed out, that this was brought up as an answer to your hero’s lame attacks, right? How about your team of mavericky mavericks tries talking about a real issue sometime? You really sound like a partisan hack. BTW, I voted for McCain in the 2000 primary before he turned into a senile joke.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Um, DJ … if you look just a few posts prior to this one, I also dimissed the Ayers matter as unimportant to the election. And I’ve defended Obama on the Rev. Wright matter as well — just so you know I at least try to spew partisan drivel from both sides of the aisle.
Agnostick: So I guess disagreeing with you is equal to being a drug addict? Nice. Mind you that my assertion is just that this issue won’t swing the election. Hardly a hard-right stand. I guess it makes you feel better to assume you are superior to me. That’s ok. But, just know that long diatribes like that one are pointless. Address the matter or don’t comment at al. Or, you know, at least be funny. Doesn’t matter how much you embellish the crack smoking line — it’s tired, man. Very tired.