Chris Baskind

Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said. With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. - Chris Baskind

Ughhhh. I hope this isn't true. Also, were they watching the same trendline I was? Negative attacks weren't working. - AJ Kohn

i wouldn't put it past him and his crew. he's been desperate the last couple of weeks - Cee Bee

That's all they have left. - Trish R

Viva Rovian neganomics. - Chris Messina

see front of NYTimes today. Attempt to link Obama to the Weathermen. He wasn't even born... - Paul Jones via twhirl

Please don't say anyone is surprised by this. - Warner Crocker

I'm shocked - shocked! - to hear McCain is considering going negative. - dkb

Since the Networks and Major news outlets willingly haven't looked into Sen. Obama's judgement, honesty and personal associations, someone's got to do it and get the truth out there. - Paul W. Swansen

When in doubt, do what comes naturally - James Tenniswood

McCain is trying to lose. - tehKenny

Drudge is basically a GOP house organ. That they're running as their lead right now -- over the OJ story -- some spurious little slander from Moose Palin, you know where the McCain camp is heading. It's time to connect the dots between the Keating 5 and McCain's irresponsible, lobbyist-driven "free market" history of deregulation. Not a maverick; not a reformer; not a safe choice to run the economy. - Chris Baskind

Chris B- and Sen. Obama is with Franklin Raines who pocketed $90 million from the Failure of Fannie Mae. The man is a thief and a crook and needs to be in jail. Sen. Obama's judgement in having Raines as an advisor in his campaign is beyond appalling. - Paul W. Swansen

Please don't bring up judgement. P-A-L-I-N. - dkb

@Paul: You want associations with Freddie/Fannie? Come on. McCain's campaign manager. Campaign Manager! was getting paid by them up until they went belly up?! Oh, and Raines says he didn't advise the Obama campaign. http://voices.washingtonpost.c... - AJ Kohn

McCain is a pig. He wants so bad to pull Obama down into the mud with him. I'm fairly confident that the voting population will not react kindly. - Clint Ecker

It may look bad the more negative he goes and Obama stands above the fray. In fact, McCain may make Obama appear more Presidential that way. It's the last Hail Mary of a desperate man. Sad. - Sally Church

using ad hominem attacks [http://bit.ly/3Uqtdf] as the primary tactic shows a lack of substance in the attacker's claims; appeals to emotion rather than reason; and mobilizes fear/hate instead of trust. those who win on these terms end up w/ a following of untrustworthy, fearful, self-centered followers who spend time gaming the system, plundering resources, and abusing the losers. "politics of fear is the last resort of the incompetent." - MikeAmundsen

I agree with Sally...this is a desperate play by a desperate campaign. It's seriously starting to feel like they just didn't bring their A game, whereas Obama's ground strategy is very good. He's got a lot of energized campaigners and they are well organized. From what I can tell, that's not the case for the McCain campaign. So all the dirty tricks in the book won't make a difference. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Well, they're already spending $1.3M a month on attack ads. Those are the ONLY kinds of ads they're running. Not one ad telling you about McCain and what he'll do. Stinks of desperation and is highly comical considering that in 2000 he was decrying these sorts of ads and as recently as 3 months ago, saying that he would never run these sorts of ads. - Anika Malone

grumpy old man slides from "maverick" into "rebel with no cause" territory. (ps yes I know, but using 'without a' seemed to bring a residual hint of glamour with it) - David HC Soul