Obama: 'McCain Won't Say it to My Face'

In an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Barack Obama was asked about the increasingly nasty attacks on him by the McCain campaign. (Transcript)

Obama: In what aspect, Charlie?

Just kidding. The Democratic nominee went at the question head-on, and pointed out that the seemingly shameless McCain has, indeed, shown some:

Obama: Why don't we just clear it up right now? I'll repeat again what I've said many times. This is a guy who engaged in some despicable acts 40 years ago when I was eight years old. By the time I met him, 10 or 15 years ago, he was a college professor of education at the University of Illinois . . . And the notion that somehow he has been involved in my campaign, that he is an adviser of mine, that . . . I've 'palled around with a terrorist', all these statements are made simply to try to score cheap political points...

I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face. But I guess we've got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.

Obama showed, during the debate, that he has earned his reputation as a cool customer. It will be interesting to see how he reacts if McCain does raise the attacks at the next debate. As Mo Rocca observed, people may expect more of a fight out of Obama.

I can't see Obama escalating a confrontation like that. I can see him calmly rebutting McCain in a way that amplifies the contrast in the temperaments of the two men. Aside from everything else in this campaign, Obama's coolness has emerged as a major factor in earning voters' trust.

McCain, by contrast, has seen his campaign grow desperate, throwing punches wildly at Obama like a toddler having a tantrum. It may make for good political theater, and whip the base into a froth, but it's cold comfort for struggling Americans deciding with whom to entrust their fates.

Here's the video.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues Wed & Thur at 10pm, and Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.