John McCain, Abolitionist

This is another kind of pedestrian ad from Barack Obama, but one with a strong message that I'm glad he's getting out:



It's one of these sometimes-hidden points among conservatives that they all favor the abolition of the Department of Education. McCain actually went a step further and wanted to ax the Department of Energy, too:

FRANK SESNO: Senator McCain, would you favor doing away with the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Energy?

Sen. JOHN McCAIN: I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it as well. HUD had experienced many failures under both Republican and Democrat administrations and I would certainly want to revamp it from the bottom up, because, clearly, public housing in America is almost as big a disaster as the welfare program...

This is an extreme position that is unpopular broadly with the public. Nice to see the Obama campaign dredge it up.