The Obama Campaign Mentions the "K" Word

[babylonsister]

Finally! :D

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/22/the-obama-campaign-mentions-the-quot-k-quot-word.aspx

The Obama Campaign Mentions the "K" Word

The "K" word being "Keating," as in the Keating Five Scandal. It did so in an email from Obama communications chief Bill Burton responding to Steve Schmidt's charge that the NYT is biased toward Obama.* While Burton counts "more than 40" "probing stories" about Obama's past that have appeared in the Times during this campaign, he counts a goose egg when it comes to the

# of stories the NY Times has written over the course of the campaign about the last major financial regulatory crisis, resulting in a huge bailout, and which John McCain was centrally involved in with his political godfather Charles Keating

Last May, after an Obama surrogate raised the Keating Five issue, the campaign initially seemed to disavow the remark before Obama reversed course by saying that "I was just asked previously about a whole host of associations that are a lot more flimsy than John McCain’s relationship to Keating Five." But then, after declaring the Keating Five fair game, the Obama campaign didn't mention it for four months. Now with all this talk about federal regulators and banks, I guess they figure the time is right.

--Jason Zengerle

*Schmidt complaining:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7143872&mesg_id=7143872

[Happyhippychick]

1. FInally is right!

[yourguide]

2. you idiots wanna roll out rezko & ayers, we'll roll out keating

suck it old man!

[Buck Laser]

3. I really don't know why they waited so long.

[kestrel91316]

5. The timing is about right. With so many starting to jump ship. or doubt

McCain on the basis of his picking Palin, now is the time to jump in with the Keating crap. There won't be time for people to FORGET it again between now and the election.

[1corona4u]

4. They should hit him now, and hard!!!

[damntexdem]

6. Either Oberman or Maddow predicted that the O campaign would OK the K word ...

and start bringing it up. And actually, they may have been smart to wait till now -- they haven't made it old news by repeating it for weeks or months; and it can have a stronger impact in the current economic crisis.

[Median Democrat]

7. Smart Move To Wait - Now It Is Extremely Relevant To McCain's Credibility

McCain has been shoveling out flimsy associations for Obama whereas McCain is an actual member of the Keating Five. When is the MSM to cover the S&L crisis, and McCain's central role?

[curious one]

8. This is the best time to bring it up. It is an example of McLame being a true change agent!?!?

[beachmom]

9. Given that parallel in history, it is now appropriate to bring it up.

It is NEWSWORTHY and RELEVANT.

[Spike89]

10. Journalism 101--find the hook

Without a hook, doesn't much matter what what the story is, people just won't read it or care about it. Of course, some stories have built in hooks, sex being the most reliable. Others, even highly scandalous ones, such as Cindy McCain's drug story, aren't going anywhere without a hook into the current narrative. Keating was right there in that same category, old news without a hook until the massive failure of the banking industry--now it has a hook and people just might pay attention.