McCain Hits Obama on ACORN, Ayers Before Debate

Via TPM.

Sen. John McCain may have offered a sneak preview of his debate game plan this morning during an interview with an Orlando TV station.

McCain appeared on WFTV and jumped on the ACORN bandwagon. He questioned Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to the group of community organizers and suggested voter fraud could determine the outcome of the vote in Florida. Take a look:

While some of his campaign advisers have been making an issue of ACORN’s alleged voter-fraud efforts — campaign manager Rick Davis referred to the organization as “fraudulent” and “law-breaking” during a conference call with reporters last week — this appears to be the first time that McCain personally chimed in on the matter.

In the interview, McCain tacked on a reference to Bill Ayers for good measure, after several days of both he and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, not mentioning the former radical. The Ayers line of attack drew a flurry of bad press after some supporters at GOP allies were heard yelling out “terrorist,” or “kill him” in reference to Obama.

Yesterday, McCain suggested he would bring up Ayers during tonight’s presidential debate, and it now appears that ACORN could be in the mix as well.

But stock markets took another pounding today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 700 points. If McCain plays the Ayers and ACORN cards tonight, he runs the risk of appearing to create distractions to avoid discussion of the faltering economy, an important issue on voters’ minds.

If the public construes McCain’s attacks negatively, he might not have another chance to shift the race’s momentum in his favor.