Palin's Accusation: Obama a Terrorist

McCain has hit an all-time low in campaign tactics. His most recent strategy has been to associate his opponent, Barack Obama, with terrorism, and I don't mean his ability to fight terror. On Saturday, Sarah Palin tried to tie former radical and Weather Underground member Bill Ayers t0 Obama saying, "We see America as the greatest force for good in this world, our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." (CNN article) 

This claim is clearly a feeble attempt to hurt Obama, but just makes the McCain campaign look like they're scrambling for any offense now that they have lost momentum from Palin, and their poll numbers are sliding downwards. It shows that Obama is strong enough in policy and character that they now must attack "suspected" associates who may have weaker histories. 

The claim is poorly constructed. In her speech, Palin references a New York Times article regarding the questionable relationship between Obama and Ayers (current university professor). The same article concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.'" Other news sources including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker, and The New Republic have also disproved the idea. CNN's "fact checker" on this claim offered the verdict, "False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are." In fact, the last time they met was over a year ago on a street in the Chicago neighborhood where they both reside. Before that, they worked together on a non-profit Chicago school improvement project raising $50 million grants to aid public education. Ayers was the driving force behind the effort, and Obama was recruited onto the board.  They were later both board members on the Woods Fund, a charitable foundation that raised money various causes including churches and the Northwestern University Law School's Children and Family Justice Center. 

Obama's campaign is not worried about this claim and reports it will be ineffective. I can't imagine the public will be moved by the hollow accusation considering it's absurdity. If you were to work in a soup kitchen with a former felon, does that make you a felon too? Obviously not! And even if the claim was true, if anything, it could be a positive for Obama. It means that Obama has the upper-hand in quelling radical groups and understanding their position, and it means radical groups won't pull some violent stunt while Obama is in office. 

Either way McCain and Palin need to stop trying to distract the public with pitiful attempts to bring Obama down, and get back to the real issues.