Would the Friend of an Abortion Clinic Bomber Be Able to Run for President?

Somehow I think we did. I haven't see much talk about the woman McCain was "palling around with" shot an abortion doctor that served in the military. And of course McCain wasn't 4 years old at the time either.

In reality, your question is whether the Democrats are biased when it comes to accepting the past histories of former or current associates of those they support for office while being more critical of the associations of those on the other side. I would say that the Democrats AND the Republicans do this equally. Do you find this unusual? This isn't my first rodeo and I can tell you with certainty that this has been the case for as long as there have been elections.

Here's an excerpt from the article that can be found here: http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/10/john-mccains-as.html John McCain and Sarah Palin have been desperately trying to tie Barack Obama to William Ayres - a 60s radical who has since become a professor and Chicago "citizen of the year" nominee. But if guilt-by-association is an acceptable standard for the McCain campaign, says MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, then what do we make of one of McCain's most stalwart supporters? It's a story first reported by the Oregonian's Jeff Mapes (on his blog, back in April), and covered here at BlueOregon. In 1993, John McCain was the keynote speaker at a banquet for the anti-gay hate group, the Oregon Citizens Alliance. Prior to his speech, Marylin Shannon offered a prayer in praise of a woman who shot a Navy veteran and doctor who happened to work at an abortion clinic. The judge who later sentenced the shooter for a string of clinic bombings made it very clear: "You are a terrorist." As I wrote in April: Let's check that again. Marilyn Shannon praises a terrorist who shot a doctor while introducing John McCain, and not only does he stay, he stands up and gives a fundraising address for these terrorist-lovers? And yes, Marylin Shannon later became a state senator, a state GOP official, and a 2008 McCain delegate. (End of excerpt) Is that a close enough association or is this somehow acceptable? Annie

Well the way I see it is they both have ties that are rather questionable. Obama ties have just happened to get more attention (this makes me think the media isn't quite a bias as we might think). Here is an article about some of McCain and Palins ties. I know it's a "left" article so you may not give it much credibility. But you can just research the names yourself and see what you come up with. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/guilt-by-associations_b_133758.html I honestly think it's pretty scary that these are the two guys we have to choose from considering a 3rd party candidate will never win.

Uh .... no! It's not just Obama's association with Ayers that has me bothered, but his history of hanging with radicals and socialists. Ayers is just one name out there. Obama gave speeches at Socialist groups. He attended a church for twenty years that believed in Black Liberation Theology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_liberation_theology He has been friends with Father Michael Pfleger, another radical in Chicago. He lives in the same neighborhood as Louis Farrakhan and Farrakhan thinks he is the Messiah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVHBLeqYo60 And lately I've been reading about his ties to someone named Odinga who is suppose to be Obama's cousin back in Kenya. This man is evil and no friend of America. Read more about Obama's Kenyan Ghosts here: http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/oct/12/obamas-kenya-ghosts/ I say, THIS MAN SHOULD NOT BE OUR PRESIDENT!!!!

Well, supposedly it's a free country, so yes, "the friend of an abortion clinic bomber [would] be able to run for President." Would this registered Democrat like it? No. But then again, I don't often like Republicans' stances on most issues such as this. Just a minor correction, though. I think Obama was actually eight, not four. Let me ask you this: Is this hypothetical abortion clinic bomber still in the practice of bombing abortion clinics and killings innocent people in the process? Or did the person do it a long time ago, when the hypothetical presidential candidate was just a little kid, and has sense served his/her time in prison and doesn't practice the art of this heinous act anymore?

I would have to say if the roles were reversed Democrats would be all up in arms. True Obama you were not friends with Ayers when he was a terrorist but you did become friends with him when he said on 9/11 that he being Ayers wished that he had bombed more.

I think they would accept it about as well as the republicans are accepting Obama's story. Thing is....he was just 4 years old. I would not regard it as anything of any validity from either side. But that is how it is in politics. The republicans are going to keep bringing this issue up and I'm sure if it were the other way around...all the hardcore dems would do the exact same thing.