Tit for Tat

Kevin Drum wonders what the deal is with all these efforts to bait John McCain into bringing up Bill Ayers in person at Wednesday’s debate:

I guess the Obama folks figure there are three things that could happen. First, McCain does nothing and ends up looking like a coward. Second, their taunts get under McCain’s skin so badly that he goes over the edge and does something really stupid. Third, McCain takes the bait and decides to bring up Ayers at the next debate.

The first two possibilities are obviously good for Obama. And the third? I guess they must be really sure they have a dynamite response ready in case McCain decides to unload next Wednesday. Either that or they’re trying to fake McCain into thinking they have a dynamite response, thus scaring him into not bringing it up. Or else, by being so obvious about it, they’re actually trying to sell McCain on the fakeout theory — and then when he falls into the trap and brings up Ayers, they’re going to crush him. Or….um…..you get the idea. Basically, they’re just playing mindgames with the old guy. I wonder if it’ll work?

I don’t think they’re just playing mindgames . . . I think all indications are that they really do think they have a dynamite response by the name of Charles Keating. Whatever you think of Obama’s association with Ayers, McCain was clearly much closer to Keating than Obama ever was to Ayers. And, again, though the Keating 5 scandal is “ancient history” in news cycle terms, it happened much more recently than any Weather Underground bombings. And though the S&L crisis of the 1980s is of only tangential relevance to the present-day banking crisis, it’s still much more relevant than anything Ayers did. And last, McCain was accused of actual Keating-related wrongdoing, whereas nobody has tried to allege that Obama was actually involved in any of Ayers’ bad acts.