Op-Ed: Obama and McCain take off the gloves

In a case of making an attempted uppercut to McCain, team Obama has released a new ad linking the Republican to high level wrong-doing in his past. Perhaps the Obama people should have realized that their own chickens would come home to roost, as well.

The Obama campaign has a new political ad out today linking John McCain to Jack Abramoff, alleging corruption and conspiracy on the part of Obama during the entire Abramoff situation, a situation in which McCain had very little, if any actual, involvement in the entire scandal other than possession of an email communication, protecting Alabama Governor Bob Riley. Hardly, in the grand scheme of things, as controversial and damning as some of the things in Obama's past, as McCain is more than willing to point out in response to the Obama ad:

“Barack Obama’s ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail. “However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs … I feel we didn’t do enough.’

“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?” —McCain spokesman Brian Rogers

The records surrounding the relationship of Obama and Ayers are currently housed at the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and are not accessible for public viewing, as journalist Stanley Kurtz discovered earlier this month, despite his having been promised access to the files. Is Obama hiding things that he, and his supporters, would rather not be seen by the public eye? If so, they're certainly not doing an impressive job in covering their tracks. Rather than moving in a way that doesn't attract attention, Obama and his cronies have a history and record of making major errors in regards to public appearances, leaving themselves wide open to scrutiny and speculation. For Obama to have gone after McCain on Abramoff, while having so many questions concerning his own relationship with Ayers under such scrutiny, Obama has shown a very significant lack of skill in maneuvering in the arena of national politics.