Politico Exclusive: Obama To Hit McCain On Keating Five Starting Tomorrow

[malik flavors]

Exclusive: Obama to hit McCain on Keating Five

By MIKE ALLEN

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday will launch a multimedia campaign to draw attention to the involvement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the “Keating Five” savings-and-loan scandal of 1989-91, which blemished McCain’s public image and set him on his course as a self-styled reformer.

Pushing back against what it calls McCain's “guilt-by-association” tactics, the Obama campaign is e-mailing millions of supporters a link to a website, KeatingEconomics.com, which will have a 13-minute documentary on the scandal beginning at noon Eastern time on Monday. The overnight e-mails urge recipients to pass the link on to friends.

The Obama campaign, including its surrogates appearing on radio and television, will argue that the deregulatory fervor that caused massive, cascading savings-and-loan collapses in the late ‘80s was pursued by McCain throughout his career, and helped cause the current credit crisis.

Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer said: “While John McCain may want to turn the page on his erratic response to the current economic crisis, we think voters will find his involvement in a similar crisis to be particularly interesting. His involvement with Keating is a window into McCain’s economic past, present, and future.”

In response, a Republican official said: “The fact that the Obama team is recycling this old garbage 24 hours after Bill Ayers entered the race is a testament to how worried the Obama camp is of an unfettered airing of his associations. Obama is a clever enough politician to know that his unexplored relationships with terrorists and felons are a serious liability in a race this close.”

More: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14302.html

[Maven]

1. YES!!!

Wow, they are good.

[Teaser]

2. It's nice to see a well run Dem campaign, isn't it?

Where were these guys 4 years ago?

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. In Chicago...

That's the thing people don't realize about Obama. He can play hardball. He may be a nice guy, but you don't have as much success in Illinois politics as he did (with a "funny" name and being black) without knowing how to go for the jugular. Axelrod and Plouffe know how to do it.

[grannylib]

3. Holy cats, these rePigliCons are SOOOOO transparent. Projection

is still the order of the day.
Ayers? Please. His sins happened when Obama was a child. The Keating Five? McAnus was RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF IT. This is not guilt by ASSOCIATION - it's CAUGHT RED-FUCKIN'HANDED, YOU ASSHOLE!!!!

[Jackpine Radical]

4. "unexplored relationships with terrorists" Hah!

Explored and found empty.

Unlike the Keating scandal, which has been explored and found full of dynamite.

[firedupdem]

5. I hate these republican bastards more and more everyday..

I cannot wait until McCain's ass loses and slithers back to Arizona.

[Cha]

11. mccain is making a place for himself on

the toxic junkyard of history.

[Doityourself]

6. Good!!!! It's about time Dems stood up and fought back...frick that... n/t

[FrenchieCat]

8. Charles Keating, a convicted felon......

Keating 5 ring a bell?
McCain's past collides with the present Wall Street debacle.

Once upon a time, a politician took campaign contributions and favors from a friendly constituent who happened to run a savings and loan association. The contributions were generous: They came to about $200,000 in today's dollars, and on top of that there were several free vacations for the politician and his family, along with private jet trips and other perks. The politician voted repeatedly against congressional efforts to tighten regulation of S&Ls, and in 1987, when he learned that his constituent's S&L was the target of a federal investigation, he met with regulators in an effort to get them to back off.

That politician was John McCain, and his generous friend was Charles Keating, head of Lincoln Savings & Loan. While he was courting McCain and other senators and urging them to oppose tougher regulation of S&Ls, Keating was also investing his depositors' federally insured savings in risky ventures. When those lost money, Keating tried to hide the losses from regulators by inducing his customers to switch from insured accounts to uninsured (and worthless) bonds issued by Lincoln's near-bankrupt parent company. In 1989, it went belly up -- and more than 20,000 Lincoln customers saw their savings vanish.

Keating went to prison, and McCain's Senate career almost ended.



more... http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks25-2008sep25,0,5467109.column

[MidwestTransplant]

9. His head will explode. If O mentions it in the debate, watch for McCain to come unhinged.

[CoffeeCat]

20. Oh!! Yes! Please!

I want to see unhinged! Can we please see unhinged????

Oh, I sooooo want to see some "average citizen" ask McCain about Keating.

Such great strategy from Obama! McCain will be rabid by the time the debate
rolls around!

Don't be surprised when Obama is talking during the debate, if the camera
pans to McCain and he's gnawing on his podium and frothing at the mouth!

I love this. So glad Obama is fighting back.

[Cha]

10. Rec'd.. This is key!

"His involvement with Keating is a window into McCain’s economic past, present, and future.”

[msallied]

12. That's what they get for going there. Fucktards. LOL!

[malik flavors]

13. I was wondering if the Obama camp would want to muddy the waters, or focus on the economy.

I guess they chose the former. Probably the better choice, because you have to push back on the republican swift boat attempt.

[msallied]

14. Actually, it does BOTH. The Keating 5 scandal has historical relevance.

[malik flavors]

15. Next they should bring up G. Gordon Liddy.

[ShadowLiberal]

16. Awesome, this goes great with the strategy to paint McCain as out of touch on the economy

I remember hearing one pundit on meet the press earlier today say that ironically John McCain's campaign doesn't seem to know the difference between a strategy and tactics despite McCain lecturing to Obama that he didn't know the difference at their last debate.

McCain's campaign has no overall strategy, it's just a bunch of tactics they decide on at the spur of moment, whatever seems like it'll work.

Obama bringing up the Keating five now is part of a brilliant strategy to keep the economy in the news now that the bailout bill is passed, and paint John McCain farther as a dangerous 'economist in chief' for your wallet, which has caused Obama to get this massive surge in support lately.

[malik flavors]

21. Well put. It's a pretty brilliant wat to go about. Staying on message is key.

Very clever on their part

[AzNick]

17. I told you!!! October = Keating Five month

I told you!!!!

Ok, who cares that I told you. I had a strong feeling that they would go personal in the last stretch and that, were they to gnaw, we would bite.

[FrenchieCat]

19. It's not personal. It cost taxpayers. It's public.

[TheDonkey]

18. Now THAT is how you hit back!!! Bravo Obama campaign!!

[Blackhatjack]

22. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when McCain is told about this impending event....

I am betting that the 'Maverick' will blow through his entire inventory of profanities!

[FogerRox]

23. Malik, hate to scoop you but, I got the whole kit and kaboodle right here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7327849

[high density]

24. The unnamed Republican official sure is a hypocrite

If there's a group that loves recycling old garbage, it's the GOP.

[Imagevision]

25. Keating 5: Obama,-24 hours after Bill Ayers entered the race baby!

>Palin with her adorable smile, Barack why do you resort to keep bringing up the past... ->(Obama Landslide!)

[smoochpooch]

26. This will be interesting. McCain had to know that Obama would bring up the Keating 5 if pushed.

However, they are probably gambling that the Ayers/Wright stuff will hurt Obama more than the Keating stuff hurts McCain. Obama has never done anything wrong or been investigated like McCain, so they're at a disadvantage there. McCain probably figures that he just doesn't have a choice at this point, and there's no way they can win without doing this stuff.

This also hurts his maverick bullshit, Obama can say that he had to change his image after the Keating 5 nearly wrecked his career; he only changed because he got busted and figured his only chance to survive was to become some kind of crusader. Unfortunately, that "crusader" isn't the John McCain who is running for president.

[Top Cat]

27. Yeah

[NobleCynic]

28. Hehehhehe! ::Wrings hands menacingly::

About damn time! I'm going to love this...

[vanderBeth]

29. Hee Hee Hee

:evilgrin:

[lostnotforgotten]

30. 20 Minutes To Go Before Full Documentary Is Up - These Guys Are Good

Seems to me they planned this all along just in case.

[quantass]

31. 12PM Noon -- not 12AM

...unless im missing something :shrug:

[Larkspur]

32. About time Obama fight fire with fire

If the Repukes are going to drag up Ayers and Rev. Wright, Obama has the right to drag up the Keating 5 scandal.

[MindMatter]

33. Let me repeat. Erratic.