I was driving through Alabama Wednesday–nothing but classical music on the public radio station, but there were plenty of Christian talk radio stations, one of which had an interview show with Phyllis Schlafly, the “anti-feminist” I remember from my youth, and now the celebrity on a conservative web site called eagleforum.org.
Schlafly was talking about Obama and William Ayres. She said that some investigator had developed evidence that Ayres had ghost-written Obama’s first book, Dreams from my Father.
A person of integrity takes a position and defends it. Did Schlafly say “I believe that William Ayres wrote the book”? No. Either she believes it and lacks the courage to say so, or she doesn’t believe it and puts the accusation out there dishonestly.
McCain essentially did the same thing in the final debate. He never said “Obama is a closet radical”, or “Ayers was Obama’s mentor” or “Obama is reckless in his associations”. Rather than showing the courage of conviction (surely McCain has the resources to find out the truth of the matter) he just flung an association like a handful of mud. If McCain were courageous and made a concrete accusation, he would be discredited if proven wrong. So he makes an innuendo that he probably doesn’t believe himself.
Dishonest or cowardly? Your pick.