Taking on McCain

Barack Obama is determined not to make the same mistake as John Kerry, who lost the 2004 election because he failed to respond quickly and aggressively to Republican attacks on his character and his war record in Vietnam. The Obama camp has the resources to hit back. Strategists say he will increase advertisement spending by 20% a week until election day. The Democrats are also focusing on McCain's character - specifically his temperament, the not so subtle suggestions that at 72 he is too old to be president, and his former associations with a disgraced businessman. Strategists say the pattern of thrust and parry will continue until election day - but do not expect Obama to get involved. Obama is using television advertisements to take the fight to McCain, allowing him to remain statesmanlike and above the fray.

Erratic, or just too old?

John McCain's other big weakness as far as Obama is concerned is his reputation for losing his temper in senate committee rooms. The questions about McCain's temperament grew during last week's crisis on the Wall Street bailout. The Obama camp honed in on McCain's apparent inability to keep his cool in a new ad yesterday, painting the Republican as "erratic in a crisis". Campaign supporters like Claire McCaskill, a senator from Missouri, kept the line going on the chat shows: "One day, no bailout. The next day, a bailout. One day, I'm suspending my campaign. The next day, I'm not." Expect renewed calls for McCain to make a full release of his medical records.

George Bush

Obama in his own pronouncements has been trying to undercut McCain's claim to be a maverick reformer by weighing him down with the legacy of George Bush. The argument also tries to defuse McCain's negative campaigns by labelling them a distraction. "No wonder his campaign's announced a plan to turn a page on the financial crisis, distract with dishonest, dishonorable assaults against Barack Obama," said a new ad yesterday. "We can't afford another president who's this out of touch."

Guilt by association

McCain's biggest skeleton is his intervention on behalf of Charles Keating, a campaign contributor and Arizona businessman, who was convicted of fraud in the collapse of a savings and loan institution in the 1980s. McCain met federal investigators on two occasions in 1987 at Keating's behest, earning a rebuke from the Senate ethics committee. McCain claims he learned from the mistake and that set him on his path of reform. The Obama camp yesterday released a 13-minute web documentary about Keating and sent out an email to supporters claiming "John McCain still hasn't learned his lesson".

Beliefs

Like Obama, McCain has a troublesome pastor in his past: the Reverend John Hagee. McCain spent more than a year courting Hagee to win his endorsement during the Republican primary, only to renounce the association last February after footage emerged of the pastor describing the Nazi holocaust as part of God's plan. The association with Hagee could hurt the Republicans in Florida, where there is a large Jewish vote.

Sarah Palin also has a potential pastor disaster in the making, thanks to 2005 footage from her Assembly of God church in Alaska. The footage shows Palin joining a visiting pastor on stage while he denounces witchcraft. Expect more footage to emerge of Palin's own pronouncements from the pulpit as governor, including her statements about God's plan for the war in Iraq.