Don't hold your breath on him changing the tone of his ads or getting Palin to do the same...

You need not fear Obama. Inherent in that statement is a negation. It's like saying, don't fear that grampa is a pervert!

You should add video of the woman stating that she knows Obama's not a black person but an A-rab. That was the highlight of the entire event! Pure wingnut zaniness!

I appreciate and respect that McCain said that.

Unfortunately, I doubt he's actually the one in charge of his campaign anymore, so I don't expect to see any real change in the tone of the campaign.

Its too late to put the genie back into the bottle.
The public knows that McCain is now desperate.

Ya know whats funny, notice how we are not hearing the pundits ask why isnt BO up double digits anymore? its because he is up by double digits. The new Newsweek poll has BO up by 11.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/163339

Secret Service talked to him. He is just a Senator and he is endangering the life of their charge as well as their lives since they are guarding Barack.

They do not stand for it, ever.

I actually gave McCain a hard look after the FISA thing. He screwed-up by letting these roided-up roves advise him. Disgraceful. Bad career move. Never look at him the same.

and note that now people like Cox at Time are making him out to be a hero for doing this (the old McCain is back). This is of his own making he is doing what he needs to do not being a hero. Gosh are these people that pathetic? They just want to see McCain as a great guy no matter what?

So is the campaign pulling all of the Ayers' crap? Abandoning the whole "Who is Barack Obama?" bullshit? Or is this just another stunt?

And can I say how unbelievable UNDISCIPLINED the McCain camp is? What exactly is there message? They were DEFENDING this shit a couple of hours ago, now McCain's walking it back. WTF?!!?!?

Erratic.

he's been calling obama a terrorist(by implication and innuendo) for a week now but he wants to be "respectful"?

wtf? talk about erratic leadership.

his campaign is all over the map, not only on this but on the economy too.

He's about as enthusiastic in the first clip as Bart Simpson having to write on the blackboard, "I will not call Obama a terrorist. I will no call Obama a terrorist..."

Sounded like more cheers than boos at the end of the second clip as he's calling for his supporters to be respectful. If so, that's actually a hopeful sign.

You know, I don't think it was easy for McCain to say keep the peace to this crowd.

Let's stop a moment and acknowledge that this was good, that this is what we've wanted him to do and what he needed to do.

We don't need to spit on McCain over this, or else it's really just more of the same. And the thing about Obama that I value perhaps above all else, is that he does not seem petty and he doesn't belittle the efforts of others. Let's honor that.

What a switch.

I thought I knew John McCain.

But now I'm not so sure.

Does anybody know who John McCain REALLY is?

Lou Dobbs just played these clips and said he thought McCain handled it with grace...

Just pure delusional bs.

McCain and & Palin are stoking these dangerous flames, now one of them wants to give the appearance that he's trying to put them out. More Rovian slight of hand (create a distraction so you can later take credit for minimizing the distraction).

When John Stewart interviewed Michelle Obama, he said "Sarah Palin wants to know who you are. Do you ever think, who are YOU?"

Sarah Palin has been on the campaign trail 6 weeks. The Obamas have been on the campaign trail 20 months.

People who have known John McCain most of his career don't recognize him.

Is the Troopergate report going to be released tonight?

This is the equivalent of McCain trying to stomp out a flaming bag of shit on his doorstep.

He may have put out the flames, but in the end, he's left with a stinking pair of loafers.

Republicans have acknowledged that McCain has lost the race. They want to ensure that he doesn't take the rest of the Republicans, running for in their own races, with him.

I think he's received backlash on many fronts. His pals from the press are warning him that this story is going to implode on him, his party is disgusted with him, Independents are fleeing and the Secret Service has issued a warning. Plus 2000 educators issued a statement in support of Ayers today.

McCain's an opportunist. He saw that this shit was getting out of control and knew it was bad for his reputation and poll numbers.

He wouldn't have done it if he were getting such backlash.

Now the media will say what a great man he is. FUCK HIM. He needs to own what he started.

Oh yes, and since money talks, perhaps the Annenbergs don't appreciate their name all over the media in connection with this story.

From the newsweek poll
Fav to Unfav
Obama +24
Biden +28
McCain +6
Palin +4

On the NBC nightly news, after discussing Ayres, they brought up the "problems" with ACORN. Sweet Jesus I'm sick of these people.

You know what, I'm not even trying to get into the muck and mire or whether this was a sincere gesture by John McCain or not. I could give a flying fuck. I'm just glad that he said it in terms of Obama's safety, hopefully this can calm some of his foaming-mouthed animals down. That's all I care about.

McCain's calls for respect and decency run contrary to his campaign's talking points.

Seems to me you can approach the the apparent disconnect between McCain and his campaign by assuming he wants it both ways; i.e., he takes the high road while his campaign takes the low road.

Less complex: McCain is a desperate, unprincipled scumbag...emphasis on both the desperation and the lack of moral principle.

From the bastion of capitalism, the Wall Street Journal:

Top McCain campaign officials are grappling with how far to go with negative attacks on Sen. Barack Obama in the final weeks of what is turning into a come-from-behind effort.

Sen. John McCain has allowed a series of increasingly harsh broadsides in new campaign ads and in speeches by his wife, Cindy, and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin. But the Arizona Republican has rejected pleas from some advisers to launch attacks focusing on Sen. Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Some McCain campaign officials are becoming concerned about the hostility that attacks against Sen. Obama are whipping up among Republican supporters.

Too little too late.

Not enough Republicans are officially denouncing these dangerous tactics.

McCain'll find out you can't lead a mob, you can only run in front of it -- until you trip, that is.

http://loomisnews.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/more-republicans-for-obama-john-mccain-is-not-a-principled-man/

I wonder if we will ever know? Hope so. I have no doubt that, as stated above, the Sec Service had a role in this - a big one. (May even have pointed out that a lot of the anger was starting to be at *him* for not going after 'the terrorist' more forcefully and that he himself could be in danger. If you were a wing-nut and wanted Obama attacked again and again, wouldn't you get impatient to see Palin in the lead?)

But I don't think Sec. Serv would have insisted on the "you don't have to be afraid if he is President" bit. Somehow I get an image of multiple Senators, some Reps and even some Dems (maybe Biden and Kerry even, Teddy?), having a little 'heart to heart' along the lines of "Obama's going to win. You're going to want to come back to the Senate. And you're going to want us to give you the time of day, aren't you? Well, here's how you can assure that happening...." ------- And to give him some credit, I don't imagine that sort of approach (if it happened) would be too hard for him to go along with because he has treasured his connections and importance and bi-partisan flair. ----------- Trouble is, when it's the Steve Schmidts talking to him, he goes along with them too! But only because they supposedly held the magic prize: victory and the Oval Office. If he was convinced that he really IS going to lose, then he'd start looking ahead to the best case scenario for the future.

Which, if I'm at all right, leaves the big questions: Is Schmidt and the rest of the campaign going to go along with this? Is Palin going to go along with this? Will McCain be able to stay on this new track once the people who pushed him there (whoever they may have been) aren't over his shoulder applying pressure?

What is so ironic. Given how hard it has been for Obama to get a commanding lead despite all the advantages .... if McCain had just persevered and gone the respectable, independent way he wanted to initially and not hired Schmidt & Co., gotten a sensible and reasonable VP candidate (Pawlenty perhaps) ... who knows? The same way you wonder what the outcome would have been if Hillary had taken the reins in her campaign earlier on and been, from the beginning, the person she was those last couple of months.

It's almost spooky the number of opponents who have self-immolated in one way or another. TWO Republican Senate prospects, Alan Keyes (who was born self-immolating, I think), Hillary, Edwards (albeit a bit late), and now it seems McCain. Spooky.

For God's sake, folks, don't let the Republicans outclass you!

I've been as angry about McCain's recklessness as anyone, but it would be hard for him to have done a better job, in a single event, than he does here. And I don't give a damn why he did it. I just wanted him to do the right thing, and he did.

Turns out McCain did have enough sorry scraps of virtue to face down his crowd. (A lot braver than he's been for many months, and much braver than the "heroism" and "strength" that his jackass questioner wants him to project by "fighting" in the debate.)

As for the booing: that is unfortunate, but it's not unique. Much saner crowds have booed during heated presidential campaigns, especially when their candidate was conceding (I think we heard some of that in this year's primaries), and the candidate traditionally uses that moment to calm them down lecture them on the American way. McCain should have done it two days ago, but I'm glad to hear him doing it.

And notice that he turns the boo into cheers: plenty of people in his crowd wanted him to do the right thing, and he gave them a chance to be louder than the would-be lynchers in the crowd. I call that a happy ending.

This is all well and good (common decency! wow!) but the problem is, he's already let the evil out of the bottle.

I just came back from phone banking for Jeff Merkley/Obama here in Portland and I had not one, but two older female voters tell me flat out that "Obama is a terrorist." Last week, before this crap at the McCain/Palin rallies, they probably would have said they "didn't trust him" or something, but now thanks to the ads and campaign rhetoric, these deluded folks have taken their ignorance to a whole new level. It's really scary.

Yay. He said the right thing. Cue MSM swooning.