Throw the rock and hide the hand

You remember those kids in the neighborhood when you grew up, the ones who didn't come face to face with you, but tried to get you anyway through an act of cowardice. Hurt you, but don't let you know who did it, so you never know who to come after.

That's the kind of stuff that happens in a political campaign. Obama has been and will continue to be attacked, not directly from John McCain or his official campaign staff, but from all kinds of splinter groups who can't be directly tied to anybody.

The emails full of lies started before he even announced his candidacy. At first he ignored the statements that questioned his religious affiliaation, and even his nationality. Ordinary citizens like me can say, "I won't dignify that kind of ignorance with a response." But when you're running for President, you have to respond to all those attacks. Just ask Michael Dukakis about Willie Horton. Ask John Kerry about Swift Boat. Those stories don't die unless you meet them head on.

I'm glad Obama is going on the offense with http://fightthesmears.com and I hope supporters will report all the smears as soon as they happen.

Aside from the lies that take on a life of their own thanks to our wonderful internet, there is another insidious tack going on, via an attack on Obama's family. He can say Michelle is off-limits all he wants, but the real motive is to paint her as ghetto ("baby mama," fist bump), bitter, racist, and not quite up to the role of "First Lady" organizer of teas and social events at the WHITE House. Maybe Barack can slip through as "multi-racial." (Aren't most of us in this country?), but "they" want the world to see that Michelle and Malia and Sasha might be too black.

We can't let the distractions get us off course. When they stick to the issues, McCain is so diametrically different from Obama that there should be no gray area. And we can't let the smears get anybody confused about what the issues are.

The photo above comes from http://www.truthfighters.tv/blogcomment/?blog_id=175, I got from Tucker's blog.