By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama's campaign called his
Republican rival "erratic" in a television commercial released
Sunday as both campaigns stepped up personal attacks.
"Our financial system in turmoil," an announcer says in the
ad. "And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the
economy."
The ad, slated to start running Monday on national cable, seeks
to capitalize on John McCain's response to the nation's financial
crisis while rebutting Republican attacks on Obama's character.
As Congress worked to pass the $700 billion Wall Street bailout,
McCain announced that he would suspend his campaign and skip the
first presidential debate while he worked on a solution. He
inevitably attended the debate even as the deal in Congress
faltered.
Republicans argue that McCain's actions showed leadership while
addressing a serious issue.
"In the midst of it all, I think you saw Sen. McCain, unlike
Sen. Obama, come off the campaign trail, because that's John McCain
in the middle of a crisis," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a McCain
supporter, said Sunday in a broadcast interview.
Democrats say McCain tried to politicize the crisis with a
campaign gimmick, and they've adopted "erratic" as their buzzword
to describe him.
It is a loaded term and a not-subtle suggestion that the
72-year-old senator's age and temperament might be an issue. McCain
struggled to gain political traction as Congress debated the
bailout package, but Republicans said his efforts helped bring
about a deal.
Obama's surrogates were well-synchronized on the Sunday talk
shows, with Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Dianne Feinstein
of California using the word "erratic" to describe McCain's
handling of the unprecedented financial rescue package.
"One day, no bailout. The next day, a bailout. One day, I'm
suspending my campaign. The next day, I'm not," McCaskill said.
"I thought John McCain was very erratic in how he behaved,"
Feinstein said.
The ad refers to McCain advisers saying they want to shift the
debate from the nation's struggling economy while attacking Obama's
character.
"No wonder his campaign's announced a plan to turn a page on
the financial crisis, distract with dishonest, dishonorable
assaults against Barack Obama," the ad says. "Struggling families
can't turn the page on this economy and we can't afford another
president who's this out of touch."
On Saturday, McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, said Obama is
"palling around with terrorists" and doesn't see the U.S. like
other Americans.
"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as
being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with
terrorists who would target their own country," Palin told a group
of donors in Englewood, Colo. She echoed the line at three separate
events Saturday.
"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see
America," she said.
Palin was referring to Obama's relationship with William Ayers,
a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground. They worked on
community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for
Obama early in his career. Obama, who was a child when the
Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers' radical views
and actions.
Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said the Palin
attack was "fair game."
"If the shoe was on the other foot and John McCain had one of
his earliest campaign events at the home of somebody who had formed
a right-wing group that had bombed buildings and then had been on a
board with the guy for several years, you bet the Obama campaign
would have been raising that question," Lieberman said. "It's
just the way it is."
McCaskill said the "American people deserve so much better."
"Do they really think America is going to think that Barack
Obama's palling around with terrorists?" McCaskill said. "What
that man did Barack Obama has condemned. And by the way, he did it
when Barack Obama was 8 years old. Come on."
Lieberman and McCaskill were interviewed on "Fox News Sunday."
Feinstein was interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation."


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)