Desperate after seeing their precipitous drop in the polls, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin have decided to go relentlessly negative for the last month until Election Day. They are essentially conceding that their proposals to continue and extend the Bush administration’s policies are so unpopular that they can’t talk about them truthfully anymore. Instead, they’ll be telling lies about Senator Barack Obama.

I just got through seeing a McCain campaign network TV ad accusing Obama of “putting lives at risk” by voting to cut off funding “for the troops.” Of course, in reality, prolonging the pointless occupation of Iraq puts lives at risk. A quick withdrawal would save many American and Iraqi lives. Congress never de-authorized the Iraq occupation or even put conditions on appropriations– they wrote one blank check after another for Bush, to the point where this fiasco is costing $10.2 billion a month. Some $560 billion has already been spent, with the total cost estimated at $3 trillion.

The truth is, Senator McCain voted against Iraq appropriations at least once, and he’s arguably voted against “the troops” many times because he’s consistently opposed adequate funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

• On March 29, 2007, McCain voted against H.R. 1591, an emergency spending bill that would have funded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would have provided more than $1 billion in additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Obama voted for the bill.
• On April 26, 2006, McCain voted against an amendment by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) that would have “provide[d] an additional $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.” Obama voted for it.
• On March 14, 2006, McCain voted against “increas[ing] Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.” Obama voted in favor.

At a fundraiser in Denver today, Governor Palin attacked Senator Obama for “palling around with terrorists.” For those who don’t follow right-wing smears, that was a reference to Obama’s tenuous ties to 63-year-old former ’60s radical William Ayers. From MSNBC (emphasis added):

“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and as I see America,” Palin said today. “We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. If we can be that beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy and can live in a country that would allow intolerance in the equal rights that again our military men and women fight for and die for, for all of us.”

She then continued, “Our opponent though is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”

But as the New York Times reported today, Obama was never “palling around” with Ayers. “A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called ’somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.’”

I’m sure we’ll get a reaction in the comments. I’d like to ask the question: As president, who is more likely to restore the reputation of the United States of America as the greatest force for good in the world, Barack Obama or John McCain?

UPDATE: The Washington Post has more about the McCain campaign’s desperate plan to pour on the sleaze in the hope of distracting voters from the country’s rapidly imploding economy:

“We’re going to get a little tougher,” a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. “We’ve got to question this guy’s associations. Very soon. There’s no question that we have to change the subject here,” said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.