Recently, John McCain has decided that instead of talking about the economy, and the myriad of issues that we as Americans face, he would rather make this campaign about character and not issues. So John McCain has tried, with the help of his surrogates, to make a connection between Barack Obama and William Ayers, a member of a radical left-wing anti-Vietnam group that committed crimes in the 1960s.
Now remember Barack Obama was 8 years old when these crimes were committed. But somehow this is a mark on Obama's character and judgment. You see, Barack Obama sat down with William Ayers on the Annenberg Challenge Project, an educational reform board that was sponsored by conservative republicans and who had republicans sitting on the board as well. This is a stretch.
Meanwhile, little is talked about John McCain's known connections with some pretty shady characters. For example:
1. General Singlaub (U.S. Council of World Freedom)
During the early 1980s, John McCain was a member of this anti-Semitic ultra-right-wing group that was founded by General Singlaub. This right-wing group was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal and supported right-wing death squads in Central and South America.
2. Charles Keating (Keating 5 scandal)
Keating was convicted during the S and L scandal of the early '80s that cost the tax payers $3 billion. McCain worked on his behalf to prevent federal regulators from providing oversight of Keating's failing bank. McCain was later investigated by the Senate and was found to have used poor judgment by his fellow senators.
3. Gordon Liddy (Watergate Scandal)
Liddy was convicted during the Watergate scandal and advocated violence, on his radio talk show, against U.S. government law enforcement members after the Waco fiasco of the Clinton administration. He recently held a fundraiser for McCain at his house.
4. Raffaello Follieri (Con man)
Follieri is a con man recently indicted for misappropriating a $50 million investment while posing as a Vatican official. He recently held a private meeting with McCain and Rick Davis, lobbyist and McCain campaign manager, on a yacht off the coast of Montenegro.
Now as you can see the guilt by association game is a dirty one. Republicans love to point out Obama's loose connections to shady characters but ignore McCain's more substantial connections. No one would be able to run for any office if the guilt by association game was used as a criteria. If conservative republicans had no problem sitting on a board with Ayers, then why should Obama? The reason they had no problem was because there was no problem to be had. But when you are a desperate politician holding on to a losing campaign, these loose associations to shady characters are the only things you want to focus on.
The problem isn't that Obama sat on the board with Ayers. The problem is that McCain has nothing else to offer. He's down in the polls, the economic philosophy he has championed for 26 years has crashed an burned, and he's running out of time.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editors Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit stated in our letters policy.
