So it's come to this. At a town hall meeting in Minnesota Friday night, John McCain was loudly booed after he defended Obama as a "decent man" that his supporters shouldn't be afraid of. The answer came in response to two questions from audience members, one by a man who said he's afraid of raising his unborn first child in Barack Obama's America, and another one from an older woman, who McCain had to yank the mic away from, after she called him "an Arab" that she "couldn't trust."
"He is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared about as President of the United States. If I didn't think I would be one heck of a better president I wouldn't be running."
Older Woman: "I have read about him. He's an Arab".
"No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."
While it's nice to see McCain defend Obama from what Glenn Greenwald calls his "traveling lynch mob," it's important to understand that it was McCain himself (and, of course, Sarah Palin) who have been working overtime for the past 10 days or so painting Obama as a Un-American Terrorist Foreigner who they should be fearful of.
Now that McCain has debunked his own campaign's last line of attack, where does he go from here? Perhaps he can start trying to convince a majority of Americans that his ideas are superior to Obama's? I won't hold my breath.
