Obama, Ayers, and the Economy

(By Peter Kirsanow, National Review Online) - Whether the McCain campaign should stress Obama's judgment/radical associations or the economy isn't an either-or proposition. McCain should do both. And as Stanley Kurtz demonstrates, McCain can do both at the same time.

Stanley distills the connection between the Obama/Ayers relationship and the economy as follows:

Obama and Ayers serve together on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge where they funnel tons of cash to finance ACORN —>

ACORN pressures banks (through, among other things,CRA-related complaints) to extend high risk mortgages to risky customers —>

ACORN also works with Democrats in Congress and others to pressure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to further loosen credit standards, spreading the contagion of high-risk credit practices to the broader financial markets —>

Subprime mess—credit markets emergency.

Of course, Stanley isn't contending that Obama—Ayers—ACORN is the cause of the economic collapse, but Obama and Ayers financed and worked with a core player in the subprime lending saga. It's a matter of radical relationships, dreadful judgment, and their impact on the real world.

And then there's ACORN's "voter registration efforts" . . .