Smear

Andy McCarthy at The Corner is angry that McCain didn't spend more (most, all?) of the debate highlighting Obama's associations with questionable characters like Bill Ayers, et al. Like Daniel Larison I think this would be a terrible idea, as nobody really cares about Ayers given the constant drumbeat of horrible news about the economy and nobody who is on the fence but leaning towards Obama is likely to be persuaded by such silly attacks, but like Ross Douthat I wish that McCain had chosen to move in that direction because otherwise we're going have to listen to right-wingers whine for years about how McCain lost because he wasn't aggressive enough (and also of course because such a move would almost guarantee his defeat.)