In another display of their brilliant strategy and perfect sense of timing (sarcasm) the McCain campaign has decided to go down the guilt by association road. They started by telegraphing their intent to bring up Obama’s already de-bunked relationships with Tony Rezko and William Ayres, giving the Obama team time to prepare a pre-emptive strike with this ad:

In doing this McCain strategists opened another door and hit themselves squarely in the face. That would be John McCain’s connection to Charles Keating and the savings and loan scandal which Senator McCain was in up to his neck.

Today the Obama campaign is launching a web site, KeatingEconomics.com, and releasing a 13 minute video documenting McCain’s close relationship to Keating and the similarities between the savings and loan scandal of the 80’s and the meltdown of the financial markets we are facing today.

Obama is also bringing up the McCain mud-slinging in his campaign speeches.

“Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that they can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They’d rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up,” Obama said at an event in Asheville, North Carolina.
“That’s what you do when you’re out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time,” he said.

All these elements taken together could make tomorrow night’s debate very interesting. That volcano known as the infamous John McCain temper could erupt in full force if and when these topics are raised. What was grinding of teeth and refusing to look at his opponent in the last debate could become one of the profanity-laced tirades for which Senator McCain is well-known.

We shall see.