Political Quote of the Day

From Mayor Michael Bloomberg, regarding John McCain in tonight's debate:

"Nobody wants to see McCain slug him," Bloomberg said.

Wrong. Millions of Republicans want to see McCain slug him, followed by pummeling, pounding, stomping, and even whipping. If McCain won't go after Obama aggressively on the character issues tonight, he won't get another chance. Republicans are literally begging McCain to go after Obama, and the best way to kill their enthusiasm is to have another mild performance.

UPDATE: Campaign Spot has some suggestions:

Debate tip for McCain, from a reader:

If Senator Obama has challenged Senator McCain to "tell it to my face" (about the William Ayers connection), and Senator Obama has publicly condemned Mr. Ayers's previous acts of violence as "despicable", couldn't Senator McCain ask Senator Obama "Did you ever tell it to his [i.e. Ayers's] face?"

Beyond that, I hope McCain puts it simply and directly, something on par with, "Why did you go work for a man who built bombs and killed people*? How could you work for a man with blood on his hands?"

Obama's twin excuses — "this was a long time ago, I was only 8" and "Ayers isn't just a radical, he's also a brilliant reformer of education" won't fly if it is put that starkly. We wouldn't give Eric Rudolph or Timothy McVeigh a pass because a lot of time has passed since their crimes, and at issue is not what Obama did at age 8 but what he did as an adult, establishing a longtime partnership with Ayers and Dohrn. And the "but, look, he's also an educator!" line sounds like someone touting the charitable work of Hamas. Just because they have a widows and orphans fund doesn't change the fact that their day job is creating widows and orphans.

*Yes, Ayers' final bomb only killed his fellow Weathermen. Let Obama make that distinction. It wasn't built to kill his fellow radicals; it was built to kill American soldiers while they danced with their sweethearts.

Are you listening, McCain?

UPDATE 2: He might be:

Said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to St. Louis radio station KMOX, "I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised that I didn’t have the guts' to bring up Ayers" at the last presidential debate. "I think he is probably ensured that it will come up this time.'"