How about this for an October suprise:

[hedgehog]

"For the past two months, a major American magazine and an allied news service have been engaged in a legal battle with the United States Navy over records that they believe show that John McCain once was involved in an automobile accident that injured or, perhaps, killed another individual."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/news-orgs-investigate-pos_n_138449.html

[Occam Bandage]

1. Won't be any more of an "October Surprise" than the Syria border raid was.

[lyonn]

3. Yet the Syrian issue barely is mention in the media

Where is Sy Hersch when you need him? Don't you think Sy's and others rants about Bush's fixation with Iran and bombing the nuke sites kept bush from doing anything stupid? This Syrian issue looks like another bush/cheney last act to keep the world in turmoil even after he is gone. Just thinking?

[Wapsie B]

2. If it were a prominent Democrat then yes.

But even when it was found that Pickles killed someone while tanked up it was no big whoop for the media.

[hedgehog]

4. I think there's a bit of difference between a teenage driver running a

stop sign at night and a 28 year old Navy pilot having an accident at date house. Back then she was just plain old Laura Welch. In John's case, there are intimations of a cover-up for the Admiral's son the Annapolis man.

[TornadoTN]

5. This actually could have some traction

As long as Obama stays above the fray and doesn't get his campaign stuck in this issue, it could really be a benefit and seal the "landslide".

Face it - we all know McCain got preferential treatment while he was in the military. He crashed 4 planes due to recklessness, he was given a speedy departure from the USS Forrestal (regardless of his guilt or lack thereof, they took care of him), and then was able to crash another jet over Vietnam. Any other pilot would have lost his rating after the first or second "accident", but McCain continued on with the reputation of being reckless and careless.

It doesn't surprise me that he might have been involved in something like this. He came from a long line of Naval officers and his father was Admiral of the entire Pacific theatre during during Vietnam. An incident like this could have proved harmful to him and his career, thus the cover up. McCain, just like everything else in his life, was fortunate because of his connections - nothing else.

[woodsprite]

6. I don't think the people who are still voting McCain could care less about that. n/t

[TornadoTN]

7. That's very true - but it could weigh heavily in that undecided/centrist demographic

Those that don't pay attention to many issue, just catch the evening news and hit the talking points. These are the people that this could influence. It's somewhat similar to those who latched onto the "well, Obama might be a Muslim" or "Obama wanted to teach sex-ed to preschoolers" memes.