I've been wondering when the Obama campaign was going to re-introduce the American public to Charles Keating, the face of the first deregulated banking industry scandal. This is why I'm not a political consultant; I'd have been screaming for months about Keating and John McCain's decision to keep federal regulators at bay while his friend and business colleage Keating fleeced people's retirement accounts and other investments. I'd have the Senate's ruling that McCain "exhibited poor judgement" all over the airwaves.
But Obama's campaign kept that card as an ace in the hole for when things turned nasty. And they have played that card with exquisite timing. McCain's people can sink to whatever unreal, hideous depths they want (Terrorist? Nauseating and inexcuseable. An insult to every soldier, sailor, and law enforcement member actually fighting terrorism).
The "Keating Five" tag attached to McCain resonates with people terrified of losing their savings, their jobs and their homes. No average American can comprehend a Senator sitting in a room with a thief, telling the federal regulators to back off. And no matter how long it's been, or how minor McCain's role in the Keating scandal may have been, those harsh, ugly facts are there, indisputable, and more relevant than ever as the next president will have to preside over the re-regulation of the financial industry.
As the AP described it, it is the political wound that will never heal for McCain.
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My partner beat me to this one. Love it. If Obama is at fault for not stopping the Weather Underground when he was 8 years old, what can we say about McCain meeting with regulators on behalf of keating when he was freakin' senator?
Will McCain raise this stuff at the debate, or will he again be unable to look Obama in the eye?
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