Barack Obama, back in May: “Congressmen DeFazio delivered a speech that wasn’t my speech,” he said. “I don’t think there is any doubt John McCain’s public record about issues that he has apologized for or written about are not germane to the presidency. I was just asked previously about a whole host of associations that are a lot more flimsy than John McCain’s relationship to Keating Five and what I have said is that I can’t quarrel with the American people wanting to know more about that and me having to answer questions about it.”
The Politico interpreted the remarks as Obama saying that the Keating Five is fair game, but I think the first sentence is saying the exact opposite, that something he has apologized for is not germane.
Either way, when Rep. Peter DeFazio brought up the Keating Five, the initial response of the Obama campaign was that they weren’t interested in bringing it up.
After the event, Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki suggested in a statement that the Keating Five would not reemerge as an issue — at least not from the campaign.
“There is more than enough space between Barack Obama and John McCain on the issues, whether it is tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans or a time line for bringing our troops home, and that is where we will focus our campaign,” Psaki said.