Dark Star

As clock ticks, hope dims for McCain savior - Jonathan Martin - Politico.com

For the GOP, the cavalry apparently isn’t coming.

Republicans attuned to conservative third-party efforts say that with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the prospects for any 11th-hour, anti-Obama ad campaign are highly unlikely.

Many in the party, including inside the McCain campaign, have held out hope that a deep-pocketed benefactor would emerge to bankroll ads in the campaign’s final days – spots that might, for example, resurrect the most incendiary clips from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

But thanks largely to lack of passion for McCain within the conservative base, diminished hopes that he can win and a sharp decline in the stock market that has badly pinched donors’ pockets, veteran Republican operatives say it appears almost certain that what could be the most damaging line of attack against the Democratic nominee will be left on the shelf.

“It’s October 21st, and if you can’t say it by October 21st, then chances are you’re not going to say anything,” said Chris LaCivita, the strategist behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004. LaCivita has been working for a new conservative third-party group this year, the American Issues Project.

That group, known in the political community as “AIP,” was eyed by some in the GOP as a potential major player in taking on Obama. They spent nearly $3 million in key states in August on a tough ad tying the Illinois senator to 60s-era domestic terrorist William Ayers and promised additional spots in the fall campaign.

That never happened.

“Donors just weren’t willing to give the money,” explains LaCivita. “They were hurt badly in the market crash and they were always concerned about how McCain would react.”

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I guess Joe Biden isn't the only one shooting himself in the foot. Why would a donor shell out the cash for such an ad, only to have the candidate himself renounce it?