Beyond his thin resume, his radical left associations, and the fact that he’s portrayed himself for the last two years as someone he’s not, what’s extremely worrisome about a possible Barack Obama presidency is the fact that not only would he implement a solidly liberal agenda - including tax and spend policies - but that he’d have a Democrat Congress, possibly a super-majority, in which to essentially allow him to do whatever he wants.

Today I read from three different people who either support an Obama presidency, or at the very least are not opposed to one, express concern that, well, having a Democrat president stand alongside a Democrat Congress in these uncertain economic times is … troubling.

Ilya Somin, Ross Douthat, and Mike Rappaport have all written in the last couple of days that an Obama victory next month could have long term economic consequences that would be harmful to the American economy, consequences that would be hard to turn back under a future Republican administration and/or Congress.

My response to this is: Welcome to the club! I have to wonder, though, what took these writers - all clearly smart and sharp individuals - so long to come to this conclusion? The subprime lending issue has been brewing for several years now, and the economy has been wobbly for the last year, with ‘experts’ predicting - and in some cases already calling it - a recession. With that in mind, and knowing that Barack Obama is a typical liberal in terms of never finding a government program he didn’t like and wanting to create more, right along with creating unnecessary tax burdens on the so-called “rich” - this in addition to his universal healthcare plan, it’s been a no-brainer for nearly two years now that in these uncertain times, both domestic as well as foreign, that Barack Obama would bring exactly the wrong type of “leadership” this country needs. No, McCain’s not perfect, but giving the Democrats unfettered control of the Congress and the WH, especially with knowing and understanding that their typical plans they propose to get to us out of an economic jam always revolve around spending massive amounts of money in order to pad existing entitlement programs and create new ones, while taxing successful people even more than they already are, would be bad news for America.

Glad these guys have joined the minority view in America right now - too bad it’s probably too late to convince more people to think the same.

Oh, and speaking of the subprime lending issue and the warning bells Republicans were ringing the last several years? In addition to trying via legislation to fix the problem, 19 of them wrote a letter in 2006 expressing their view that Congress needed to act and act swiftly to avoid a potential catastrophe down the road. McCain was one of the Senators who signed it. Barack Obama did not - nor did any other Democrat Senator. Surprise, surprise.

Here’s video of ACORN workers getting worked up for Obama outside of the McCain campaign office in Philadelphia (via Net Right Nation):

That’s only the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to get your blood boiling about voter fraud perpetrated by ACORN in Pennsylvania (in addition to other states), make sure you read this.

The McCain campaign has a new 90 second web ad up about Obama’s extensive ties to ACORN. It’s been pulled from YouTube due to a copyright claim made by Fox News, but you can view it here.

In today’s “Did You Know?” segment, did you know that ACORN’s PAC endorsed Barack Obama back in February? The Obama campaign took enough pride in the endorsement to post it on The One’s website.

Sounds like a mutual admiration society, if you ask me …

Hot off the presses: Embattled ACORN defends its voter registration drive

Related/Prior:

• VIDEO: “Non-partisan” GOTV registration efforts at an Ohio soup kitchen

Jay Cost at RCP’s Horserace blog has some sobering news about McCain’s and Obama’s respective RCP averages, and how in actuality in those numbers there hasn’t been much of a change over the course of the last week. McCain, he argues, can’t get any traction going against Obama because the more unsettling news is reported about the economy, the stock market, and the financial crisis, the more people will turn to the opposition party - no matter the nominee:

So long as the newspapers and the televisions are full of stories about contraction, which as you can see dominated every day this week here in Pittsburgh, John McCain’s poll position will be weak. That’s all there is to it. Conservatives can criticize McCain for not doing this, that or the other; liberals can praise Obama for doing this, that, or the other. But the fact remains that, as of today, the state of the race is pretty simple: this was an even-steven contest until the markets started to sputter and people started really worrying about the economy. Now Obama’s up 6 points.

This is infuriating conservatives. If you peruse the conservative blogs or listen to talk radio - you can almost feel their anger. There’s plenty of blame to go around, they argue. And of course they’re right - both parties are to blame - but it doesn’t matter.

The average voter doesn’t understand the intricacies of economic policy. Heck, when you think about it, nobody really understands the economy. So, voters often rely on simple yet sensible metrics to make political decisions about the economy. One of them has been more or less operative since the election of 1840: if the economy tanks during a Republican administration, vote Democrat. If it tanks during a Democratic administration, vote Republican. Applying this rule to 2008, we get the following. McCain, because he is of the incumbent party, gets the political harm. Obama, because he is of the out party, gets the political benefit. That’s all there is to it.

This rule might not be just, but remember justice is a matter of law. This is a matter of politics, a space where the law does not exist. This rule might not make for the best choice every time, but in the long run it does have some beneficial effects. Above all, it makes the party in charge work hard for growth, which is what the country really wants.

Does that mean this race is over? No. If the bad news dissipates and some good news manages to creep back into the papers and onto the television, McCain’s position should improve at least a bit. But that means that his fortunes are out of his control (the same goes for Obama). A retooled message might help him at the margin, but to change things he’s first going to need some better headlines.

Couple with that the fact that McCain’s drop in tracking numbers directly coincides with the implosion of the stock market. Before that, Mc was enjoying the momentum wave alongside Gov. Palin, and looked poised to possibly defy the odds in the “year of the Democrat.” But the sour economic/financial news put them at a disadvantage, primarily because McCain is a member of the Republican party, which just happens to be the same party the unpopular president who we see almost every day is a member of, too.

It’s not over, of course - but the odds aren’t good right now. Between the daily bad domestic news and a media that is deeply in the tank for Obama, not to mention the problems sometimes the McCain campaign brings on itself, overcoming the obstacles is going to be difficult. Nevertheless, as I’ve said before, don’t stop fighting. Liberals have already started passing around the champagne glasses and are hoping conservatives just give up. Let’s continue to demonstrate that we won’t.

Continuing on with a theme set by the McCain campaign that revolves around Barack Obama’s questionable associations with left wing radicals in Chicago, the RNC is getting ready to release a 30 second ad tomorrow called “The Chicago Way” which - obviously - briefly chronicles some of the lowlights on Obama’s rise to power in Chicago and beyond. Here’s the ad (NOTE: You can view that ad more RNC IE ads here):

The transcript:

ANNCR: The Chicago Way. Shady politics.

Thats Barack Obama’s training. His teachers? Tony Rezko convicted of corruption, money laundering, aiding and abetting bribery.

Rezko got Obama in on a shady land deal.

William Daley. Heir to the Chicago machine. A top Obama advisor.

And William Ayers. Leader of a terrorist group that bombed the US Capitol. Obamas first campaign was launched at a gathering at Mr. Ayers’s home.

Theres more you need to know.

The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Here’s the release notice:

The Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure unit tomorrow launches an ad which highlights Senator Obamas political upbringing in the infamous shady world of Chicago politics. The ad notes Senator Obamas financial relationship with convicted felon Tony Rezko, his training under Chicago political boss William Daley, and his association with William Ayers, the widely discussed founder of a terrorist group that once bombed the US Capitol.

Because one can only fit so much into a thirty second TV spot, the ad does not mention the fact that Senator Obama personally profited from his questionable land dealings with Mr. Rezko, or the indisputable fact that Mr. Ayers remains unrepentant for his terrorist activities. Mr. Ayers in fact has said, ”I don’t regret setting bombs” and ‘I feel we didn’t do enough.

Of course, Senator Obama is crying foul and declaring his association with such individuals to be off limits. Fortunately, with the First Amendment still intact, he does not get to decide that.

This ad will begin airing tomorrow in the major media markets in Indiana and Wisconsin, two states that by virtue of proximity have great familiarity with the notoriously shady ways of Chicago machine politics.

That they are running it in the blue state of Wisconsin is especially key, considering the polling numbers there, which do not look good for McCain at a time when he desperately needs to put a couple of blue states in play. The red state of Indiana’s numbers have calmed down a bit after appearing to be a little shaky, though, and McCain is ahead there again outside of the MOE - and it looks like the RNC is running an ad there to make sure they stay that way.

In related news, Charles Krauthammer has a must-read column up today on how Obama’s relationships with left wing Chicago radicals bring up legitimate character and judgement issues that should not be ignored (via Memeo). And speaking of Ayers and Obama, this morning we learn that we have yet another evolving, shifting story from Obama on the details of what he knew about Ayers and when, proving once again that when Obama opens his mouth, you never can believe a word he says because his stories continually change.

One last comment about the Ayers issue: It seems that both Obama and Biden are insinuating that because McCain hasn’t brought the issue up “to Obama’s face” that McCain’s somehow a coward. The irony of this argument is that neither Obama nor Biden have been willing to bring up the Keating 5 “issue” with McCain to his face or talk about it with the media directly - preferring instead to let an online ad and their campaign surrogates do their dirty work for them. To my knowledge, neither Obama nor Biden brings this “issue” up at campaign stops, but McCain and Palin do talk about it on the campaign stump. As an example of Obama’s reluctance to touch this issue directly, the day the Keating 5 web video started running, Obama was being interviewed in Asheville, NC where he was prepping for the last debate and when reporters asked him about the web video, he walked away, refusing to comment. So with that in mind, who actually is the ‘coward’ again? The candidates who talk about it directly, or the people who let their campaign surrogates and online ads do the dirty work, in effect making the candidates appear to be ‘above it all’? We know the answer. In fact, we’ve known the answer to that for a long time now.

The Grand Rapids Press reports:

GRAND RAPIDS — Following an unpopular president, supporting a costly war, and now facing a financial crisis at home, Sen. John McCain’s race for the presidency should be in worse shape.

“What makes John McCain plausible is Barack Obama,” news anchor Ray Suarez told a local crowd Wednesday.

The “pseudo controversies” about Obama’s background are symbols for a “racial calculus” hard at work in U.S. politics.

Opinions about Obama’s inexperience, his childhood in Indonesia, and the persistent but untrue rumors of him being Muslim are stand-ins for something his detractors cannot admit, Suarez said.

Particularly, “religion has become a proxy for race,” he said.

Characterizing Obama as Muslim “is a way to confer otherness on him for those people who are uncomfortable saying they’re against him because he’s black.”

Suarez spoke at Fountain Street Church as part of the Diversity lecture series. He is the senior correspondent for PBS’s “News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and former host of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” program.

Suarez said Republicans are leaving it to vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to “pile on the doubt” about Obama’s religion.

Newsbusters blogger Ken Shepherd notes:

Speaking of religion, Suarez’s venue was well-suited to be preaching to the left-wing choir. According to the church’s Web site, the goal of its “worship and proclamation” are ensuring that “[t]hemes of liberation and oppression such as sexism, racism, and homophobia are addressed.”

Ah. That explains things.

Just how much of our tax money goes to PBS, again?

Update: Heh.

Despicable:

“[Franklin] Raines, who you’re talking about, worked for Fannie Mae, was there for a while. The only connection that people could bring up about Raines and Barack Obama is they both are African-American, other than that there is nothing.”

That was from an interview he did on Las Vegas’ KXNT 840 AM radio station - the radio host’s name is Casey Hendrickson. Click here to listen to the full interview.

Note how, after Reid throws the race card out there, and Hendrickson takes offense to it and tells him so, Reid stupidly says in response (paraphrasing): “Well you’re the one who brought up Franklin Raines, not me.”

This is just one more way that Democrats continue to try and shut down criticism of The One - if it’s not by legal means or intimidation, it’s by playing the race card. And the media, of course, plays right along with them.

So much for their claims of wanting to have an ‘open, honest, frank dialogue’ with the American people.

Update/Related: One “uncommitted” townhall questioner really wasn’t so “uncommitted” - and played the race card against McCain today, too. Amanda Carpenter has the details.