By Thomas M. DeFrank / New York Daily News
WASHINGTON — It's getting McNasty again.
A day after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists," Obama struck back Sunday with a tough ad painting John McCain as "erratic."
"Our financial system is in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis, out of touch on the economy," charges the spot — a thinly veiled dig at McCain's age and temperament.
In Asheville, N.C., where he's prepping for Tuesday's second debate with McCain, Obama lit into the Arizona Republican for returning to the low road by having Palin and other surrogates resurrect Obama's associations with 1960s radical William Ayers, now a Chicago educator.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called Palin's charge "ridiculous."
"I hope John McCain is a strong enough leader to tell at least his vice presidential candidate to knock it off," McCaskill told "Fox News Sunday."
But Palin kept it up Sunday. "In fact, Obama held one of his first meetings hoping to kick off his political career in Bill Ayers' living room," she told a California fund-raising event.
A top McCain adviser signaled last week that the campaign intends to "turn the page" from economic issues — which polls show have staked Obama to a significant lead — and ramp up attacks on Obama as an inexperienced ultraliberal.
"I know the policies he's supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend," Obama told a rally at a high school football stadium. "I can understand why Sen. McCain would want to turn the page and ignore this economy."
McCain and his agents are "gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance," Obama added. "They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas and running out of time."
McCain's course correction reflects a growing case of nerves within his high command as the electoral map has shifted significantly in Obama's favor in the past two weeks.
"It's a dangerous road, but we have no choice," a top McCain strategist told the Daily News. "If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose."
One-time McCain adviser Mike Murphy told NBC's "Meet the Press" he's worried because "it's McCain's barn that is on fire. McCain is defending states like North Carolina, Virginia, Florida that he has to win."
"I think McCain can win, but the fact is, if the election were held today, he'd lose, and I think he's on a losing path," Murphy added. "This trendline is very, very bad."
Former Bush political guru Karl Rove told "Fox News Sunday" that Obama now leads in states with 273 electoral votes, three more than needed to win.
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