Go Ahead, I Dare Ya

Joe Biden follows his running mate in taunting John McCain.

“All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on YouTube … John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” Biden said this morning. “In my neighborhood, when you’ve got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him.”

I can't say enough about how perfect this is. McCain CAN'T validate the fever swamps of the right and go nuclear on Obama in front of him for a variety of reasons. First of all, it'd allow Obama a platform to discuss McCain's own ties to radicals and right-wing cranks. Second, McCain risks looking angry, and voters won't like him when he's angry. And third, that's just not how this is done. What Biden and Obama are doing is calling bullshit on the entire wingnut "it's out there" strategy of whisper campaigns, anonymous emails and allegations that make their way into the ether without a source. It doesn't only invalidate the Ayers smear, it invalidates REPUBLICAN smears.

Brilliant move by them. It looks tough, makes McCain look weak, and neutralizes the charges.