MORNING READ

Barack Obama, under attack for his past ties, can play the guilt-by-association game, too. His campaign is highlighting John McCain’s role in the Keating Five savings-and-loan scandal, liberal bloggers eagerly note. But the Democrat’s attacks won’t be as effective as McCain’s attacks on Obama for ties to Weather Underground bomber Willliam Ayers, according to conservative bloggers. The vice presidential nominees also come under further scrutiny from the blogs for their most recent gaffes.

McCain was accused in 1989 of improperly aiding Charles Keating, a political donor and chairman of a bank. McCain was cleared by a Senate investigation but criticized for poor judgment. The Obama campaign already has a website, KeatingEconomics.com, dedicated to McCain’s involvement and will post a 13-minute Web video about the scandal, writes The Huffington Post’s Nicholas Graham. Because the 1989 scandal involves corruption, greed and political ineptitude, it’s again a salient story, writes Political Animal Steve Benen. McCain has shown a fervor for the deregulation that helped cause the current economic woes, and the Keating scandal is an example of how strong McCain’s fervor can be, writes Open Left’s David Sirota.

Obama’s ties to Ayers are far worse than McCain’s ties to Keating, because Obama knew about Ayers’s terrorist past and yet worked for an education program backed by him, writes Karl at Patterico’s Pontifications. The attack by Obama could backfire if it escalates a character fight, writes RedState’s Moe Lane.

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) uttered a ludicrous gaffe when he suggested that the United States and France kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, writes Townhall’s Michael Medved. It was Hezbollah that kicked U.S. forces out in the early 1980s, and it was Syria that was ousted by the Lebanese themselves more recently, Medved notes. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) made her own gaffe by calling Afghanistan a “neighboring country,” writes Jason Szep at Reuters’s Tales From The Trail.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Keating 5 Involvement to Be Highlighted – N. Graham, HuffPo
The Empty Campaign of John McCain – J. Bernstein, Huffington Post
Guilt By Guilt – Steve Benen, Political Animal
Helping Obama Echo the Keating Message – D. Sirota, Open Left
The Guilt By Association Game – BarbinMD, Daily Kos
It’s Over – Howard Wolfson, The Flack
McCain & Keating, Obama & Ayers – Karl, Patterico’s Pontifications
Up In Polls, Obama Brings Up Keating – Moe Lane, RedState
Biden’s Bizarre Hezbollah Fantasy – Michael Medved, Townhall
Palin in Burlingame, Calif. – Joe Malchow, Dartblog
Palin: Afghanistan ‘Neighboring Country’ – Szep, Tales From Trail

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Registration Gains Favor Democrats – Washington Post
McCain, Obama Camps Trade Barbs on Negative Ads – AP
Dems: Forget Ayers, Remember Keating – Washington Post