"J'accuse!"

Time for the blame game.

November isn't just some far off place anymore, it's bearing down on us all. Supporters of both presidential candidates are quick to attack the other on any grounds possible. The attacks are getting more and more aggressive, and more focused. Barack Obama and McCain spend their mornings accusing each other of one thing or another, then their afternoons denying their opponents charges. One hand throws mud, the other wipes it off.

Hurricanes, bankruptcies, wars, definitely nothing new, but there's certainly a lot of blame to throw around, fortunately neither candidate has accused the other of pushing Ike across the Atlantic. With the DOW at its lowest since 2001, surely one of the parties holds more of the blame for the attack on our economy.

Reuters reports that Barack Obama accused John McCain of "being an opponent of government regulation who turned a blind eye to market recklessness."  In return, John McCain accused Barack Obama of using the economic crisis for personal gain.

This is just the latest accusations.  Time reported that after the Republican National Convention McCain accused Obama of "McCain accused Obama of supporting "sex education" for kindergarten students."  In the article, Todd Harris, a Republican political consultant who has worked on two failed presidential bids, gives insight into the thought process: "The McCain campaign baited the outrage hook, and the Obama campaign and the national media bit."  Obama immediately responded that McCain's claims were purposefully misleading, but the media still picked up on it.  Foxnews.com reported that Obama "accused the McCain campaign of 'lies and phony outrage" and "Swift-boat-politics."  He went on to say that this style of campainging is "catnip for the news media."  Mmm, indeed.  The Los Angeles Times picked up on it too, reporting that Obama accused McCain's campaign of "false advertisements, lies and spin."

But Barack Obama wasn't going to take it. He hit back with this television commercial.



AFP says the Republicans also accused the Democrats of ageism, but to be fair John McCain would be the oldest president elected.

Pretty typical politics in an election season.  Mud throwing is inevitable, but coverage is saturated with words like accused and brief quotes are thrown around like, well, mud.  The media seems to be framing the argument.