New McCain ad links Obama to old Chicago corruption

Washington, Sep 23 : John McCain trying to reclaim the advantage that slipped to Barack Obama as the Wall Street mess has unfolded, has criticized his democratic rival of running the same "corrupt Chicago political machine" as convicted felon and Obama patron Tony Rezko and the Daley family, which controls Chicago politics.

McCain's campaign in a new advertisement said they are raising the corruption issue because the press has failed to do so, the Washington Post reported.

"Senator Obama very directly has introduced the issue of associations in this campaign, I think, raising fundamentally that you can tell something about people by the company they keep," top McCain aide Steve Schmidt told reporters.

As the financial sector spiraled downward last week so did McCain's poll numbers, dragged down by his own confusion over the state of the economy and knocked off message by his own surrogates.

McCain's campaign said the ad, which will run nationally and in battleground states, is a fair response to what aides said have been repeated personal attacks by Obama.

The ad ties Obama to four Chicago figures, including Obama economic adviser William Daley, brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose election machine has been accused of dirty politics, and Rezko, who was convicted of fraud and bribery.

Schmidt said the press owes voters more scrutiny of Obama's ties to William Ayers, an early Obama backer who gained notoriety as a leader in the Weather Underground, which bombed government buildings in protest of the Vietnam War.

ANI