McCain has a radio ad on the air that attacks Obama for "Helping his friends with your tax dollars." It includes a charge that Obama procured a $75,000 grant for "a relative." "That’s your money Obama’s using. That’s unethical."
Here's some info on that grant, from excerpts of an AP article as published on Salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/...
"As a state senator, Democrat Barack Obama awarded $75,000 in government grants to a Chicago social service organization led by a rabbi who is also his wife's cousin, records show. In 1999, Obama arranged for $50,000 for adult literacy and counseling services offered on Chicago's South Side by a group called Blue Gargoyle. A $25,000 grant for the group's youth services followed the next year.
Update: http://www.factcheck.org/... has completed a fact check of other parts of this ad.
Article continued:
"The group's executive director when the grants were awarded was Capers Funnye, a South Side rabbi and Michelle Obama's first cousin once removed.</</p>
Funnye said Monday there was nothing improper about the way Blue Gargoyle obtained the grants. Obama did not encourage him to apply for the money, he said, and Funnye denied using family connections to pressure Obama to approve the application.
"State Sen. Obama joined other legislators in securing funding for a well-established social services agency in his district that provided job training, employment counseling, and alternative education programs to approximately 1,200 Chicago residents each year," campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said. Funnye noted that Blue Gargoyle got similar grants from another state legislator who had no family ties to the group."
The rest of the ad deals with false allegations involving Tony Rezko (who is unnamed in the ad) and others. See the factcheck link above.
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(Maybe Obama should run an ad in Florida saying "Obama's relative is a prominent rabbi")
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Here's a great graphic on Obama's www.fightthesmears.com website show connections between the people behind the smears:
http://www.fightthesmears.com/...
Excerpt from the above webpage:
Floyd Brown, the leader of the National Campaign Fund, the Legacy Committee, Citizens for a Safe and Prosperous America and the Policy Issues Institute ...was responsible for the 1988 "Willie Horton" ad against Michael Dukakis. Brown harassed the Clintons throughout Bill Clinton's administration, with even George H.W. Bush calling his behavior in the 1992 presidential election (which included harassing the family of a recent suicide victim) "filthy campaign tactics."
USA Today: "[Brown has] established himself as one of the nation's dirtiest political strategists." [USA Today, 10/26/92]
Salon: "If there is a racist odor to the coming general election campaign, it is likely to emanate from his vicinity."
[Salon, 4/25/08]
Bob Perry is one of the biggest Republican donors in the country and was the main financier of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004, giving $4.5 million. The ads produced by the Swift Boat effort were so disingenuous that John McCain himself denounced them as "dishonest and dishonorable."
In 2006, Perry was again the top contributor to 527 groups, giving them more than $9 million. His contributions were more than the next two biggest donors combined. Perry even funded an anti-gay ad in Montana that referred to "Brokebank Democrats" and ads featuring the home phone numbers of Democratic candidates.
Craig Shirley, who runs Stop-Him-Now.com, was a McCain campaign consultant and endorser until the campaign was faced with the possible illegal arrangement. Shirley, another member of the team that produced the Willie Horton ads in 1988, harassed the Clinton administration for years, staging the press conference where Paula Jones was introduced. Shirley not only represented "Unlimited Access," a book described as "second-hand, unsubstantiated sexual rumors about and bitter attacks against President and Mrs. Clinton," but also represents Ann Coulter’s books.
Bruce Hawkins, the Executive Director of the National Campaign Fund, has been involved in Republican campaigns for 20 years. Hawkins was recently disbarred in Washington state for violating four rules of professional conduct, running a business that promised to reduce credit card debt (but did not), and lying about conflict of interest. The same year, Hawkins was "permanently enjoined" by the justice department "from promoting tax-fraud schemes" after setting up illegal offshore tax shelters.