Erratic in a Crisis

Hello from Minneapolis!

From Mike Allen at Politico:

Branding his opponent as “erratic in a crisis,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is preempting plans by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to portray him as having sinister connections to controversial Chicagoans.

Obama officials call it political jujitsu – turning the attacks back on the attacker.

McCain officials had said early in the weekend that they plan to begin advertising after Tuesday’s debate that will tie Obama to convicted money launderer Tony Rezko and former Weathermen radical William Ayers.

But Obama isn’t waiting to respond. His campaign is going up Monday on national cable stations with a scathing ad saying: “Three quarters of a million jobs lost this year. Our financial system in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy. No wonder his campaign wants to change the subject.

“Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching dishonorable, dishonest ‘assaults’ against Barack Obama. Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy, and we can't afford another president who is this out of touch.”

Then Obama says: “I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.”

Update: Here it is.




Second update: Now that I've seen it, I don't think the ad is all that "scathing." But I do like the introduction of the word "erratic." It's sort of the flip side of "maverick," isn't it? McCain is providing lots of examples of being erratic (think Sarah Palin, in addition to his hysteria during the bailout brouhaha), and erratic is not a comforting thing when the world seems to be flying apart.