2008 Primaries, Speeches, Views on News • October 7th, 2008

Presidential Thunderdome: Two candidates enter; one candidate leaves

by Chris Lato

Today’s guest column is written by Alex Gelhar of Avicom Marketing Communications.

The political landscape is about to get bloody, as McCain and Palin have thrown the first punches in what appears to be the 2008 Presidential Election’s version of Thunderdome. In her speech yesterday morning at Clearwater, FL, Governor Palin assailed Obama’s relation to Bill Ayers, a radical from the 1960’s and neighborhood acquaintance of Obama. Days earlier, she referred to the same situation saying Obama “pals around with terrorists,” even though he was a mere eight years old when Ayers’ Weather Underground bombings took place. Moreover, McCain joined the battle with this statement I found on the Journal Sentinel website yesterday afternoon.

In a country that often elects presidents based upon moral issues (abortion, religion, character, etc.) rather than political issues, these attacks could serve as the catalyst McCain needs to edge out Obama with fewer than 30 days left until the election. I remember vividly the attack ads Bush used to sully Sen. John Kerry’s war record in the 2004 election that certainly helped Bush win his second term. Effective? Yes. Cheap? A bit. Yet as the 2008 Presidential election looms on the horizon, Obama and McCain have left the playground and entered their final skirmish before America elects the next president of the United States.

With the second of three Presidential debates airing tonight, it was no surprise Obama and company were quick to return fire at McCain with a 13-minute documentary about McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five scandal of the late 1980’s. This accusation and the Obama chumming around with Ayers attack are harsh and strike to the core of America’s most pressing ideals: the economic crisis and terrorism respectively. As shots continue to be fired across the board, tonight’s debate appears to have much more riding on it as Americans will be looking for answers, and both sides are anxious to deliver a fatal blow to the other’s character. The only real difference between the tonight’s debate and Thunderdome, is a distinct lack of Tina Turner. For although no real punches will be thrown, both candidates are sure to bleed by the end of the night.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm and is filed under 2008 Primaries, Speeches, Views on News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.