Fear Tactics

As the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, Barack Hussein Obama stood by with a big grin on his face.

Or at least that is what the McCain campaign would like us to think. Amidst Palin’s accusations of Obama “palling around with terrorists,” the GOP is exhausting every scare tactic in the book, just as Joe the Plumber is milking his 15 minutes of fame. The Republicans are hoping that by linking Obama to Ayers and creating an Obama-Osama name game, they will nab those gullible, ignorant voters that will surely never vote for a man with the middle name of a notorious dictator.

But just as roaches scatter when the light comes on, the Republicans will have to come up with something better as their frivolous accusations are revealed to be misleading.

Using fear tactics to sway voters is something that George W. perfected in the 2004 elections. He exaggerated the importance of the ‘War on Terror’ and told us we had to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He essentially scared everyone into voting for him, as Republicans are commonly viewed as stronger in dealing with war-related issues. Well, here we are four years later: we have an economy in peril of completely collapsing, a deteriorating education system, and a complete lack of quality health care. So NO. We are definitely not better off than we were 4 years ago.

The fact that the McCain campaign is using fear tactics is not surprising, considering their dismal standings in current election polls, showing Obama up by a significant amount. But a closer look at their attacks is embarrassing; almost more so than Palin’s ability to see Russia from her backyard.

Palin was recently quoted telling a group of donors that Obama “is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." First of all, since when did serving on a board of a charity group together automatically make Obama and Bill Ayers best friends? There is no evidence of anything suspicious in their relationship. It’s the same thing as saying I support Hugo Chavez because my best friend is from Caracas- it’s ludicrous! Second of all, can we really take anything the excessively-winking Palin has to say seriously?

In another lame attempt to influence voters, GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick of Virginia linked Obama to Osama bin Laden: “Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon… That is scary." Actually, what’s more scary is your complete ignorance, Mr. Frederick. The fact that the GOP Chairman is saying such slanderous things makes me doubt the existence of honest politicians. Yes, Obama did know Bill Ayers, the former leader of the Weather Underground group, a radical group that was responsible for various bombings during the Vietnam era. But Obama has never expressed approval of any of Ayers actions, and has maintained that Ayers is “somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.”

Further adding to the disparity between the two candidates, McCain appealed especially desperate when he attacked Obama for his relationship with Ayers during the third debate, accusing him of “launching his political campaign in Mr. Ayer’s living room.” McCain’s attempt to play to American’s fears of electing a president that might have possible terrorist ties actually backfired, as many Independent voters were turned off by this negative campaigning tactic. The economy is now the issue that is most disconcerting for Americans, and the terrorist-tactic that worked 4 years ago is just not having the same impact.

But McCain can’t possibly educate Palin on the intricacies of the economy with such little time left, so they have to stick to what they know- terrorism. Still clinging to the Ayers association, the Republican campaign is launching a wave of phone calls in key battleground states, saying that Obama has “worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans.” This whole terrorist association is overdone now, and if you guys can’t come up with a plan to save the economy, you might as well write your concession speech now.

The Republican campaign probably thought they had stumbled on to a gold-mine when they realized Obama had interface with Ayers years ago. But it was a superficial avenue to pursue, and is actually backfiring on them. Instead of exaggerating the terrorist relationships of Obama, McCain should learn to maintain his positions on the issues and Palin should brush up on her geography- well, actually everything while she’s at it.