Can Obama Repel 'Swift Boat'-Style Attacks? | Newsweek Scope

Brains Are Back!
Michael Hirsh 11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM
For two days now, Americans have celebrated the idea that we may have finally atoned for our nation's original sin, slavery, along with its long legacy of racism. We can rejoice in the world's accolades over the election of a multicultural African-American to the presidency after nearly eight years of cringing in shame as the Bush administration methodically curdled our Constitutional values and sullied our global reputation as a beacon of hope. Every once in a while, it seems, we Americans do manage to live up to our ideals rather than betray them. Hooray!
FACTCHECK.ORG
The Whoppers of 2008—The Sequel
Viveca Novak 10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM
Since our first "Whoppers of 2008" piece, we've seen some of the same themes repeated. McCain's campaign doesn't tire of distorting Obama's tax plan, it seems, and in the process has whipped up at least 15 minutes of fame for sudden star Joe the Plumber. Obama continues trying to pull seniors into his camp by making deceptive claims about what McCain would do to Social Security, and he has new distortions about his opponent's plans for Medicare.
FACING FACTS | Ellis Cose
Journalist of the Year
Ellis Cose 10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM
If only more journalists were like David Letterman. On Thursday night's "Late Show," Letterman confronted Sen. John McCain. He tenaciously pressed the presidential candidate on the accusation repeatedly hurled about by his running mate, Sarah Palin, that Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists." And he eventually got McCain to concede (if only in the most backhanded and ungracious way) that the charges—which happen to be ridiculous on their face—were just "words."
Stormy Weatherman
Christopher Dickey 10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM
Can it be that the washed-up Weatherman Bill Ayers is the last big obstacle remaining between Barack Obama and the White House? And how, I wonder, does Ayers feel about that?
FACTCHECK.ORG
"He Lied" About Bill Ayers?
Viveca Novak 10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM
In a Web ad and in repeated attacks from the stump, McCain describes the two as associates, and Palin claims they "pal around" together. But so far as is known, their relationship was never very close. An Obama spokesman says they last saw each other in a chance encounter on the street more than a year ago.
THE LAST WORD
The Final Repudiation
George F. Will
In a Presidential contest replete with novelties, none was more significant than this: A candidate's campaign—for his party's nomination, then for the presidency—was itself virtually the entire validation of his candidacy. Voters have endorsed Barack Obama's audacious—but not, they have said, presumptuous—proposition, which was: The skill, tenacity, strategic vision and tactical nimbleness of my campaign is proof that I am presidential timber.