BEND, Ore. – Senator Barack Obama said today that a scandal from Senator John McCain’s past – the Keating Five – was just as relevant to the presidential campaign as questions about who Mr. Obama has associated with over the years.
In a news conference here, Mr. Obama was asked whether his campaign intended to raise the banking scandal from the 1980s, which Mr. McCain has apologized for. Every piece of every candidate’s public record, Mr. Obama said, is “germane to the presidency.”
“I was just asked previously about a whole host of issues and associations that are a lot more flimsy than John McCain’s relationship to Keating Five,” Mr. Obama said. “What I said, I can’t quarrel with the American people wanting to know more about that and me having to answer questions about it.”
Mr. Obama’s background, ranging from his longtime pastor to his friendship with former radicals from the 1960s, has been widely debated during the Democratic nominating fight. He said he expected the same level of scrutiny would be applied to Mr. McCain.
The topic was raised briefly during a 20-minute news conference here today. It drew sharp criticism from the McCain campaign, with a spokesman saying: “Apparently, Obama’s lively calls for new politics ended today.”
“If Barack Obama doesn’t have the strength to stand up to his own standards, how is he going to stand up for hardworking Americans?” said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain.
While the Democratic presidential primary is May 20 in Oregon – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned here yesterday, former President Bill Clinton arrives tomorrow – Mr. Obama’s two-day campaign swing here carried the feel of the opening volley of a general election campaign in a battleground state. Mr. McCain is set to make his first trip on Monday to Oregon, a state that is being targeted by both campaigns.
As he spoke to reporters, with the Cascade Mountains in the distance, Mr. Obama sought to clarify a remark he made the other day when he suggested Mr. McCain was “losing his bearings.”
Was that a veiled reference to age? No, Mr. Obama said today.
“His team somehow took this as an ageist comment,” he said. “How that was interpreted in that fashion still is not clear to me.”
Then, he added: “Last I checked, people lose their bearings at every age.”
Perhaps. Yet it was an interesting moment, particularly considering Mr. Obama was not asked here about “losing his bearings” – or age. Mr. Obama raised both topics on his own accord.
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As the campaign goes forward, it would be great if the Times and other news organizations saved ink and pixels by not printing every back-and-forth between the campaigns, such as this comment from Tucker Bounds. What does his comment add to anything? It’s not news — news is what emerges from the actual candidates’ mouths. Please spare us all, reporters, and stick to that!
— carolineNow let the battle begins…
— stanWell, well. It didn’t take long for him to abandon the high road. let’s see how his supporters spin this!
— Carolyn (Rodham)Yeah, Obama’s taken more than a few hits as of late, so maybe he’s entitled to engage in a little give-back. But doesn’t this sound just like the “kitchen sink” strategy he repeatedly accused Hillary of using? And nice try on his part by saying, “Hey, don’t blame me, blame the voters for caring about this stuff.”
— RyanGood!!! If the media won’t go after McCain, i think Obama should do it himself. By the way, when McCain was saying Rev. Wright was a fair game the media didn’t say anything. When McCain tie Obama to Hamas, the media kept quiet. Now that Obama brought keating 5 up, McCain camp was raising a red flag. please give me a break.
McCain cannot withstand the scrutiny Obama went through last month.
— BeeWarning to John McCain: when Barack Obama starts talking about changing the old politics of fear and division, get your head down fast.
Hillary and Bill Clinton, life-long champions of racial equality, were turned into cartoon-caricature racists by Obama and his “new politics.” It looks like you’re next in line for the same treatment, so get ready for a lot of veiled references to your age, followed immediately by denials that your age was ever mentioned, and promises that your age will never be mentioned again.
Count on it - Barack Obama will never make an issue of your age. He respects a man of your age. If you’re sensitive about your age, that’s your problem. No ageism here.
Welcome to the politics of hope, progress and unity.
— BlueBloodAs Ben Smith just reported on Politico.com, two of the Keating Five are Obama supporters.
If Obama feels so strongly that he was treated unfairly about Jeremiah Wright, then perhaps he should avoid doing the same thing to McCain. Otherwise, the GE will be a never-ending spiral of umbrage-taking and gotcha politicking that will do nothing for the American people and all those affected by American policy outside the borders of the U.S.
— KMI don’t think John McCain will be treated in half the fashion that Barack Obama has been. I don’t think Hillary Clinton has been given the same “treatment” either. As I recall, The Keating Five controversy was a BIG DEAL and yes, it shouldn’t be out of the question to revist it.
I have voted Repubican in the last 4 Presidential Elections but McCain doesn’t get it or my vote this time around. A vote for McCain is a vote for more of the same and I’ve had it with that.
Wal
— walmanSo, if the press doesn’t ask a question about something his opponent has attacked him about, he can’t bring it up without being suspect? Zeleny, is that the point you were trying to make? The charges and counter-charges continue to fly. I am glad that Senator Obama is going to be proactive instead of sitting there like a wooden post, doing his best John Kerry or Michael Dukakis imitation. This was Hillary Clinton’s biggest gift to Barack Obama - giving him a sharp learning curve about the relentless appetite of the media for baseless charges and red herring arguments. A candidate ignores them at his or her peril.
— ChuckWhen the Republicans watched Sen. Obama’s primary fight with Sen. Clinton they must not have realized that he was fighting with his gloves on. It would have been unseemly for Sen. Obama, a black man, to go after Sen. Clinton, a white woman, harshly. Also, she is a fellow Democrat. He would have lost more than he would have gained. Call it pragmatic chivalry. (And no, I really don’t expect any of Sen. Clinton’s supporters to agree.)
Sen. Obama is not going to face the same constraints in the general election. He’ll be battling a male Republican. He’ll also be honouring Sen. McCain’s loooong service to his country.
I saw an item a few days ago where Sen. Obama had a few comments about James. Carville. Amazing how someone can be so finicky while slicing and dicing. I expect Sen. McCain may see a lot of that in the next few months.
— Observer in VancouverIn fact, the Keating Five is MORE relevant than Obama’s ex-pastor because it involves actions taken by McCain himself, and it speaks directly to McCain’s reformer credentials. It is not a smear. A smear is suggesting that a person is somehow responsible for having an endorsement by Hamas. And let’s not even get started on endorsements….especially by a certain Pastor Hagee.
If McCain’s point about Hamas was to say that Obama was being soft on national security, then he could have argued it from the vantage point of Obama’s policy proposals. The Hamas attack was a cheap shot. The Keating Five is not, because it speaks directly to corruption in American politics, which is what both Obama AND McCain say they want to root out.
Another sign of how shaky McCain’s premises are. He will not survive this debate.
— Lioness““Apparently, Obama’s lively calls for new politics ended today.”
“If Barack Obama doesn’t have the strength to stand up to his own standards, how is he going to stand up for hardworking Americans?” said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain.”
I don’t see how saying McCain’s corrupt past isn’t off limits to the American people is considered smear campaigning. I think people have every right to know the details of the Keating 5 scandal as McCain’s involvement in it does raise serious questions about his ethics.
I consider dirty campaigning as including aspects that aren’t a real issue involving a candidate. This is most certainly a real issue.
— ValerieAs many people are losing homes due to lack of regulation and lack of integrity of the financial industry, what is NOT relevant about revisiting Keating 5 and McCain’s involvement?
“Involvement”, mind you, not tangential association.
— ConstanceCarolyn (Rodham) & Ryan: It wasn’t Obama who brought that topic up - he was asked during a news conference whether he would bring that up later on during the campaign. Obviously the title of this piece makes it appear as if he brought it up, however he was mainly responding to a question. I don’t see that as a “kitchen sink” strategy. He wasn’t throwing the sink here.
— tatAmen Obama.
Obama was asked about a few words of Rev Wright that he wasn’t even aware of. What about John Hagee, the anti-Catholic bigot whose endorsement McCain sought for a year?
Obama was asked about his lack of a flag pin. Let’s ask McCain about his involvement in the Keating Five.
The free pass ends McCain. Obama is coming for you.
— Ross in MDThe Keating Five is SO relevant because LAWS were broken and this is undisputed. In fact it was a CORRUPTION scandal if we remember correctly. This is not kitchen sink politics and McCain should be questioned on this topic–in fact grilled the same way Obama was griulled concerning Rev. Wright. Fair is fair-yes?
— ShawnGOP/RNC must have already started fishing for Obama’s Pre-school records for the no holds barred national campaign.
— Arun MehtaAnother indication that Obama has no clue about solving issues. He is already practicing to dig up and throw dirt. He is what I thought. A liar. He has no answers and is a phony smooth talker and liar.
— Richard DirsaNothing will be off the table in November.McCain or his surrogates will bring up everything they can find on Obama and Obama and his people will do the same to McCain. It’s the way politics is done these days and it won’t change in 2008. McCain is just lucky Hillary Clinton won’t be the candidate. She has already shown she will stop at nothing.
— Electric BillIf people don’t recall, four of the Keating Five were DEMOCRATS, and McCain and John Glenn were both found to be minimally involved and were both re-elected. Dennis DeConcini (another member of the Five) was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1995 to the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. So before everyone wants to act like McCain was so deeply involved, lets look at the facts because I think Obama taking “consulting fees” (payoffs) from Robert Blackwell are just as relevant, if not more.
— DougWhat does McCain want him to do? Demand that all the papers stop publishing this stuff?
Especially when McCain can’t even control the Republican party to stop them from airing even one racist ad. When asking them nicely didn’t work, McCain ran out of ideas.
Some leader!
— JoeThe thing is - Sen McCain has repeatedly announced that he is going to run a respectable smear free campaign. yet he makes comments about Hamas and Rev Wright and Bill Ayers - none of what they said or did has anything to do with what Sen Obama said or did.
— geeSo Sen Obama has to respond appropriatedly, to avoid being swiftboated.
Poor thing - if he responds he is in trouble and people accuse him of straying off the high road. If he does not respond, he is trouble too - for not being strong enough.
So what should he do?
Sen McCain is the older guy - he shouldnt stoop so low as to engage in mud slinging. He should also not let his party the RNC do it too. But does he have that kind of power?
Come on guys, the American people deserve better.
Senator Obama is on the record as saying his association with his former pastor is a fair subject for inquiry because it reflects on his judgment. For him to say that the Keating Five scandal is fair game is entirely consistent with that position because the scandal sheds light on Senator McCain’s judgment and character.
I interpret Senator Obama’s comment as a shot across the bow of the McCain campaign, a warning not to hit below the belt. I venture to say that Senator Obama will not be the first to deliver a low blow, but he will not be constrained in his campaign tactics against his Republican opponent as he has been against an older white woman in his own party.
I sense a core of tempered titanium beneath Senator Obama’s good-natured disposition. The Republicans have no choice but to go negative, and Senator McCain is poised to lead his party into an electoral buzzsaw.
— What’s fair is fairSo…
Keating Five?
As if Obama voters actually have a clue what this means, or remember the “scandal”.
Obama will get the nomination, most likely, and follow McGovern as the most Liberal choice. He’ll be lucky if he carries Illinois in the general.
(Yes - I’m a bitter Clinton supporter who used to like Obama before we learned who he was. I might sit this one out…I might vote for McCain. But then again it doesn’t matter. The die is cast, the super-delegates aren’t listening, and the electoral college doesn’t care. So it goes…)
— Holcombe HurdIf guilt-by-association smear tactics can be used against Obama on a 24/7 basis for weeks, attacks not based on Obama’s own words or deeds but those of others he might not have even been aware of, then the Keating 5 scandal is absolutely fair game. This is something that Sen Mccain was involved in and did conduct some shady dealings with. This is especially relevant if Republicans chose to bring up Rezko, a case in which no one has suggested any ellicit activity from Obama but which has received far more attention than any of Mccain’s suspect activities. The Washington Post just had a story about some of Mccain’s shady land developer buddies from Arizona. John Mccain’s entire persona as a straight talking maverick is just a mirage.
— Courtney H