Finally -- I've been waiting for someone at the heart of the Democratic campaign to finally bring out the issue of McCain's "experience" and link it directly to the Keating Five scandal, and Governor Dean just did it Live on MSNBC with Norah O'Donnell.
I couldn't believe it -- the timing was perfect. The scroll on the bottom of the screen was just touting a new McCain ad that says "in a time of crisis, experience matters." And in response to a question Dean just lobbed the Keating 5 situation.
While everyone was reeling from that, Dean then said that Obama had the cool, calm, temperament that was needed to guide us through this crisis, and that McCain was (and I quote from memory here) "irascible" and hot tempered, or something like that.O'Donnell was stunned by that -- and Dean didn't blink, just said "you can ask any Senator, if they're willing to speak off the record" and they'll agree! O'Donnell just moved away and onto something else, but it was left out there.
I can't find the link (maybe because it's still live in my time zone), and I don't know how to embed a video (which I can't find on MSNBC's website yet, but I wanted to let everyone know that the gloves are coming off -- and the timing couldn't be more perfect.
To those of us who have wondered in the past few months why Keating 5 had never been mentioned, it turns out that mentioning it before would just have diluted it's impact by now.
NOW IS THE TIME -- and if Dean has lobbed the first salvo, the Obama campaign surely approved the message to be delivered by Dean as the messenger.
It's probably best that Obama himself remains "above the fray" on this issue, as we need "bipartisanship and leadership" from him on the financial crisis, not the blame game.
But at a time when McCain is running an ad that says "In a crisis, experience matters" -- he's totally opened himself up to the question "OK, lets' look at your experience in regulating financial institutions. Keating Five anyone???
I have avoided using "BREAKING" in the title, but I really do feel this is a new step in the campaign. Even if Obama himself can't push this as an "old" scandal, we have to make sure the public gets an education. Lots of voters don't remember who the hell the Keating 5 were, or why it matters.
It's up to us to make sure everyone understands exactly who and what was involved.
Fox News this morning kept trying to tell David Sirota (who also brought it up, and diaried about his experience) that McCain had been "cleared", but in fact he was not "cleared" -- he was rebuked and that's not the same thing.
I apologize for this badly written diary, without links to the transcript. It was written in a hurry just to get this news out there. If anyone can find the link or the video I'll update (if someone can tell me how to embed.)