Why McCain went negative
Is he desperate, or hitting Obama's big weakness?
John McCain talks a lot about honor, said Gary Kamiya in Salon. But now that his “numbers are tanking” he’s resorting to the same old smear tactics conservatives always use when their policies have been discredited. McCain is trying to paint Barack Obama as a “traitor”—his running mate, Sarah Palin, pointed to Obama’s acquaintance with 1960s radical Bill Ayers as evidence that he pals around with terrorists.
It’s not just Ayers, said Frank Gaffney in The Washington Times. Obama made himself vulnerable by palling around with a string of sleazy characters, many of whom share the anti-American politics “espoused routinely from the pulpit of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.” Voters deserve to know how these people have influenced the would-be president’s thinking.
The financial system is melting down, said USA Today in an editorial, our soldiers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this is what McCain and Palin want to talk about? To be fair, Obama is slinging mud, too, by resurrecting McCain’s long-ago involvement with Charles Keating of savings-and-loan scandal fame. But Obama doesn’t sympathize with terrorists, and McCain isn’t a crook—so can we talk about serious matters?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Book reviews: 'Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves' and 'Notes to John'
Feature The aughts' toxic pop culture and Joan Didion's most private pages
-
The FDA plans to embrace AI agencywide
In the Spotlight Rumors are swirling about a bespoke AI chatbot being developed for the FDA by OpenAI
-
Digital consent: Law targets deepfake and revenge porn
Feature The Senate has passed a new bill that will make it a crime to share explicit AI-generated images of minors and adults without consent
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy