McCain questions Obama's associations

WAUKESHA, Wis., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain on Thursday again questioned Democrat Barack Obama's association with former radical William Ayers.

Politico reported that responding to a question at a Wisconsin town hall, McCain said it is important to find out what Obama's association with Ayers, a former leader of the Weather Underground, which bombed the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon in the early 1970s.

"Look, we don't care about an old washed-up terrorist and his wife, who still, at least on Sept. 11, 2001, said he still wanted to bomb more. That's not the point here," McCain said. "The point is Senator Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We know that's just not true. We need to know the full extent of the relationship because of whether Senator Obama is telling the truth to the American people or not. That's the question."

For his part, Obama said that the McCain campaign is making personal attacks "the centerpiece of the discussion in the closing weeks of a campaign where we are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and we're in the middle of two wars."

Obama said he believes the attacks are part of a strategy to "change the subject" and draw attention away from struggling economy.