Powell, in his endorsement of Obama Sunday:
I've also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country ....
What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate.
The largest newspaper in Pennsylvania, where McCain is now camped out:
That ought to be the last word on the McCain campaign's pathetic smear attempts, including robo-calls locally.
McCain this morning, continuing the smear:
He was friends with a terrorist and his wife. He was and we need to know the full relationship.
Really?
Skepticism about the Ayers issue was one of the factors cited by Colin Powell in his endorsement of Obama yesterday, and in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, likely voters broadly agree: 60 percent say Obama's relationship with Ayers is not a legitimate issue in the presidential campaign ....
Of course, those 60 percent might be more concerned if a presidential candidate praised a convicted felon from a recent national security case, as McCain did:
Scooter Libby was convicted of obstructing justice in an investigation revealing that Libby and others had leaked the identity of an undercover national security officer.
Former President George H.W. Bush once denounced people who engaged in such conduct as "the most insidious of traitors."
Yet, in June 2007, John McCain said this about convicted felon Libby:
I happen to be one who admires Scooter Libby.
This is the man who wants us to be outraged about Bill Ayers?
Bill Ayers' conduct put lives at risk in 1969, and Barack Obama has condemned it as "reprehensible."
Scooter Libby's conduct put lives at risk in 2003, and John McCain said in 2007 he "admires" Libby.
Not only is McCain's embrace of the Ayers issue a transparently desperate attempt to distract attention from the economic crisis, it's enormously dangerous for McCain.
The national security issue of our day is weapons of mass destruction getting in the hands of terrorists.
Bill Ayers has nothing to do with that issue.
Scooter Libby has everything to do with that issue.
And John McCain publicly embraced Scooter Libby just last year.
McCain's stubborn refusal to give up on the Ayers smear was not all he did this morning to vindicate Powell's decision.
Again, Powell on Sunday:
I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin....
I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.
McCain's response, this morning:
If someone thinks that somehow she was unqualified, that's their opinion, but that doesn't stack up on paper. I mean the most popular governor in America, I'm proud to have. And I think she and her husband and her family are just wonderful.
Convinced?
Finally, on the economy, here's Powell:
I have especially watched over the last six of seven weeks as both of them have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say that I've gotten a good measure of both. In the case of Mr. McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as to deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem. And that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had.
Doesn't have a complete grasp, indeed:
He should be judged very, very well as far as the economy is concerned. We’re in a long sustained period of economic growth.
- John McCain on George Bush, March 2007
I think we are better off overall if you look at the entire eight-year period, when you look at the millions of jobs that have been created, the improvement in the economy, et cetera.
- John McCain, January 2008
I still believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
- John McCain, August 2008
Our economy, still, I think the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
- John McCain, September 15, 2008
First Three McCain Quotes on the Economy Collected in:
Yeah, Right: "This Economy Is Strong" and Other Tall Tales pages 44, 72 & 73
Online Sources: March 2007; January 2008; August 2008
UPDATE:
Via Mark Halperin:
McCain "Totally" Proud of Anti-Obama Mailer Invoking Terror, 9-11
The mailer, which has the word "Terrorists" splashed across the front, "depicts a jumbo jet on its cover, followed by a photo of the Illinois Senator."
NOTE: Although Halperin quotes McCain responding "totally" when asked if he's proud of the mailer, the video available on You Tube shows McCain responding that he's "absolutely" proud of the mailer. Equally strong word, but I wanted to clarify for the record.