Exclusive: Obama to preempt McCain assault

Politico ^ | 4 Oct 2008 | Mike Allen

[Rokke]

Branding his opponent as “erratic in a crisis,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is preempting plans by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to portray him as having sinister connections to controversial Chicagoans.

Obama officials call it political jujitsu – turning the attacks back on the attacker.

McCain officials had said early in the weekend that they plan to begin advertising after Tuesday’s debate that will tie Obama to convicted money launderer Tony Rezko and former Weathermen radical William Ayers.

But Obama isn’t waiting to respond. His campaign is going up Monday on national cable stations with a scathing ad saying: “Three quarters of a million jobs lost this year. Our financial system in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy. No wonder his campaign wants to change the subject.

“Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching dishonorable, dishonest ‘assaults’ against Barack Obama. Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy, and we can't afford another president who is this out of touch.”

Then Obama says: “I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.”

McCain officials told Politico that the new offensive is likely to focus on Rezko and Ayers. The officials said the campaign will not bring up the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, because McCain has forbade them from using that as a weapon. Without being specific, the officials said outside groups may focus on Wright.

When word of the planned attacks leaked Saturday, Obama officials said within hours that it was an attempt by McCain to distract voters from the economy.

“We think the McCain campaign made a huge error by telling the press that their strategy was to distract from the most important issue facing voters,” a senior Obama official said. “Every attack going forward will be easy to characterize for what it is – an attempt to distract from the Bush-McCain economic record."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds hinted at the tough new line Saturday on “Fox & Friends.”

“There are associations that are important to who Barack Obama is as a candidate, who he’d be as president,” Bounds said.

Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer said about the new ads: “If John McCain thinks he can ‘turn the page’ on the economic crisis facing American families, he is even more out of touch than we imagined. Now there may be no good answers for John McCain due to his erratic response to the financial crisis, but his desire to avoid discussing the economy is something we will remind voters of everyday for the next month.”

[weston]

A campaign doesn't leak an attack. They keep it quiet until they actually attack.

You are exactly right! Remember these are the people who were able to keep the Palin pick locked up tight until the very moment they wanted it released. These guys are disciplined and this leak was purposeful.

[anniegetyourgun]

Yep - McCain can play the "associations" game either way.

Besides, most people don't attach the current economic crisis with McCain OR Obama - they blame "The Bush administration" for everything.

[Unam Sanctam]

The associations should be tied in with subprime loans, FM/FM, ACORN, so it can’t be said to be a change of subject.

[xkaydet65]

I'm thinking the noise about attacks from McCain were just that, noise. Designed to have Obama and his minions try preemption. This means that they bring it up in the Times, New republic, and new ads. Once out in the open McCain can respond by citing facts from Stan Kurtz, by citing comments by Ayers and Dohrn themselves. By citing the New republic article's "I forgave Ayers his violent past because he forgave me about my bad poetry." That comment might play in Hyde Park and on Columbus Ave and 82nd Street, but it won't play in flyover country.

Obama's people may be crowing about political jiu jitsu, but I'm thinking OODA Loop again.

[snarkytart]

Except the fact the attacks did start already with Palin today in California. So, obviously it’s going to happen.

[supremedoctrine]

Yeah, jesus, the text of that “ad” is really wimpy and weak-—if that’s the best they can do, they are gonna fall on their faces.

[igoramus08]

Just expose Obama’s 20 years of Black Liberation Theology and its nutcase inventor James Cone. For 20 years he practised a wacko “religion” invented by a guy that sounds like a munchkin. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1X5sZ6Q4Fw] Obama either actually holds these wacko radical beliefs, or his judgement is so bad that it took him 20 years to realize that Black Liberation Theology is nonsense and wrong.

Taxpayers will be very uncomfortable with someone with such radical views as the President. You are not racist if you expose racism. Game Over.

[IFly4Him]

McCain should say that he has no intention of changing the subject (the economy). Obama used poor judgment in his associations and thus will use poor judgment in trying to fix the economy, represent the U.S etc. He wants to raise taxes during a slowdown - again, poor judgment...

[DAC21]

“Are there any records in our favor for the fiscal stability of Republican states v instability of Rat run states?”

Michigan has to be a no brainer. Leftist by way of Canada Gov. Always runs higher unemployment..never seems to prosper when the rest of the country is. but with the Car Unions and Obongo country Detroit. There is no reasoning with those cradle to grave lackeys

[anniegetyourgun]

There should be no “leaks” or presaging. McCain should have learned that from his silly alert to the media that he was suspending his campaign to go to D.C. He should have learned that you don’t tell the MSM what you’re going to do....just DO it, and leave them to ask questions later.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Hahahahahahahaha.

Obama throwing away more mony he doesn't have to respond to an attack that hasn't happened yet. Doh! All this will do it focus more attention on Ayers and Rezko.

[Poincare]

The point is that Obama LIED to Stephanopolous et al about Ayers.

[SaintDismas]

Well, if they do have some secret sauce their gonna choke him on, I will be really impressed. And if they really do want to focus it back on the economy, fine. Let’s see Mac and Sarah talk about his taxes, his connections to Fannie and Freddie, he’s living in a glass house. It doesnt really matter, if Mac attacks, he has to respond and you know damn well he’s got dirt on him, WE SEE IT, others will too. It has to become ALL ABOUT OBAMA AGAIN

[unspun]

It's the economy AND Obama's stealth Marxism, "stupid" Americans....

Everyone -- Click the links -- Send them to everyone, GOP officials, campaign organizers, media, friends, family, neighbors -- and the unsuspecting Obama supporters you know.

Evidence indicating that Barack Obama wants to grow government either directly into socialism, or into economic collapse, in order to bring an ACORN-agitated Socialist revolution. That was the goal of Saul Alinsky. That is apparently the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Frank Marshall Davis, ACORN, William Ayers, et. al.:

James Simpson, a former White House economist, has just published "Barack Obama & the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis" - on AmericanThinker.com.

Download Interview of James Simpson by Sandy Rios, Tuesday 9/30 - WYLL 1160AM, Chicago, IL
From http://www.culturecampaign.com/culturecorner.aspx

Further documentation connecting the dots of all the neo-Marxists who have invested in the development of Barack Obama may be found on discoverthenetworks.org

Simpson documents his research in his article using Web links and provides a rough flow chart.

"CHANGE"

[NRA2BFree]

The officials said the campaign will not bring up the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, because McCain has forbade them from using that as a weapon. Without being specific, the officials said outside groups may focus on Wright.

How can McCain be so foolish about Rev. Wright? That sent Obama sailing down in the polls more than any other thing thrown at him. If McCain wants to overcome all the voter fraud, he better use EVERYTHING available to him. Obama will. Biden will. They will even lie and that's because they want to win. This is no time for McCain to act like a gentleman. There's too much at stake.

[GOPsterinMA]

Exactly! I agree.

[Senator Goldwater]

I’m thinking OODA Loop again.

---

Exactly.

[yawningotter]

Hammer Obama on his connections with Fannie Mae. Bring up the lawsuits that forced banks to make bad loans. Something along the lines of “What does a community organizer do? He files lawsuits that cost the American taxpayer 700 billion dollars.” or “Franklin Raines and company bankrupted Fannie Mae, and now Obama wants those same people to run the American economy.” Keep linking Obama with the $700 billion figure.

[T Lady]

'Politico is so in the tank for Obama. They actually have not posted an honest positive headline on McCain or Palin this entire campaign. They like to use a lot of “back-handed” language. I go on there as much as I can to try to defend against the smears but the Obama camp has it pretty much covered and some of them are very good. Most of them are quite hateful (shocking, isn’t it)? They rarely write their own stuff, they very selectively pick and choose fragments of the work of others, spin it and then try to package it as the actual “crux” of the story. They are bunch of hack paraphrasers, IMHO. Yet, they get traffic and I don’t like the smears thrown at McCain/Palin to go unchallenged.'

...And they must not have too much love for Rush Limbaugh, either: In just under an hour after his opening monologue last Tuesday, a Politico pundit misquoted him in a post that was picked up by none other than CBS, stating that Rush had "Mocked House GOP Conservatives" for torpedoing the first version of the bailout bill. The truth was he actually thanked God for the House Republicans in their refusal to vote for the bill.

So when you say Politico is in the Obama tank, that's an understatement.

[SaintDismas]

Explain OODA loop please!