McCain May Start Hitting Obama on Crime Policies

I think this could be an effective attack. Obama has a dismal record as a state senator of coddling criminals and voting for restrictions on good citizens who want to own a gun:

LA CROSSE, WI — In what could be a foreshadowing of where John McCain plans to go next in raising questions about his Democratic rival, he briefly mentioned today that Barack Obama has a lackluster resume when it comes to combating crime.

“I hope during the course of this national debate that Americans will examine Senator Obama’s record on crime. It’s very, very weak when you look at many of the votes he cast in the Illinois State Senate, as well as in the United States Senate,” he told supporters at a town hall meeting in Waukesha Thursday afternoon.

While crime has not been a prominent issue thus far on the trail with the economy in the headlines, it could potentially take center stage in the closing days of the campaign.

During his tenure in the Illinois State Senate, Obama supported a number of pieces of gun-control legislation including limits on handgun purchases and a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. Obama also cast a vote in 2004 (in the minority) for a bill that would have disallowed people to use a self-defense argument if they violated local gun bans and used weapons in their homes. The Democratic nominee’s vote on that bill, among others, could make easy fodder for a McCain campaign ad casting Obama as weak on crime.

However, while the issue could be potent, it could also open up Camp McCain to accusations of fear mongering and playing the race card (see the Willy Horton ads in 1988).

Look folks, let's just quit talking about the possibility of being called a racist. It's now a given that any criticism of Obama makes you a racist, so let's just all go ahead and take the hits and keep pounding away at this terribly flawed candidate. Given the opportunity Obama would empty our prisons and leave our citizens defenseless. He has unrepentent domestic terrorists for friends and mentors, and has been steeped in radical ideology since his early years. He would sit down with dictators and thugs who would play him like a cheap violin. He would be a disaster for the safety and security of our nation.