Opportunity squandered

By Nelson Graves
Published: October 8, 2008

If you’re thinking about going into business for yourself, after Nov. 4th’s national election, I believe you should consider investing in a bathhouse or carwash. Voters and non-voters will have so much mud and muck left on them and their autos after the national election that owners of bathhouse showers and carwash bays will take in millions.

Following the vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin the Republican national campaign advisors decided the campaign needed focus. After seeing that Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama was pulling away in the polls they felt their candidates, Sen. John McCain and Palin, had to go negative.

So on Saturday, Palin began regurgitating old stories about Obama having ties to domestic terrorists. She said that Obama associates with terrorists because he served on a board with William Ayers, an admitted former radical activist and Weather Underground member.

Never mind that Obama previously condemned Ayers’ admission. Also know that Ayers, though prosecuted, wasn’t convicted (albeit due to a technicality) for being a domestic terrorist. And when Ayers belonged to the domestic anti-war (Vietnam) group, Obama was 8 years old.

The Democratic campaign isn’t playing nice either. In retaliation to the Republicans, Obama and the Democrats are throwing mud too. The day after Palin and McCain began their assault on Obama, the Democrats launched a campaign ad that implied McCain was party to the Keating Five scandal 19 years ago.

For those who don’t know or may not remember, according to the Internet, “The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, one Republican, John McCain, and four Democrats, Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn and Donald W. Riegle, were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB).

“After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that three Democrats had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised ‘poor judgment.’

“All five of the senators involved served out their terms. Only Glenn and McCain ran for re-election, and they both succeeded.”

Most political experts, including the campaign advisors of both McCain and Obama, advised the candidates to avoid the mudslinging and focus on the issues, particularly the economy. It was felt that voters in the audience and watching on TV wanted to hear solutions to issues not personal attacks.

Tuesday night’s second presidential debate used the town-hall format. At times it was dull because both candidates repeated old stump points. Neither McCain nor Obama threw mud, but McCain didn’t do what he needed to – close the gap on Obama’s lead.

Nelson Graves writes a weekly column for The News Virginian and is Western Virginia director of the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council. E-mail him at .