(NAME-MCE) In Support of Bill Ayers

[Warren Blumenfeld]

In Support of Bill Ayers
by Leslie R. Bloom and Warren J. Blumenfeld

We feel compelled to speak out to correct distortions and 
insinuations perpetrated by the McCain campaign against our friend 
and colleague Bill Ayers (Des Moines Register AP story, 10/6/08, 
"Obama pals shed light of character" Palin asserts).

McCain, through Palin, is slandering a man who has never been 
convicted of a crime, but rather, someone who is a respected scholar 
in the field of education and whose professional and civic 
contributions have received extensive recognition. He received the 
Chicago Citizen of the Year award in 1997 after securing the city a 
prestigious $49.2 million grant for school reform. He is a man of 
integrity and kindness who has committed his life to ensuring high 
quality public education for everyone.

Like former Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy whose attacks on 
respectable citizens during the 1950s were baseless tactics grounded 
in fear, the McCain campaign is attacking Ayers as a diversionary 
strategy to get off the important issues that face our 
nation.  According to all reliable polls, the number one issue to the 
electorate is the current state of the economy, an issue that has not 
done well for McCain. So why not a diversion?  By engaging in 
character assassination against Obama through the scapegoating of 
Ayers, McCain draws attention away from an issue that he admits he 
knows little about. We have confidence, however, that the electorate 
and specifically our fellow Iowans will see this ploy for what it is.


Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
Assistant Professor
Multicultural and International Curriculum Studies
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
wblumen at iastate.edu
515.294.5931 office
515.232.8230 home