I know Soren Dayton, I like Soren Dayton, and I think he stepped in it when he posted a link to this YouTube on his Twitter account, touting it as a “good video on Obama and Wright.”
The McCain camp has suspended him from the campaign, and it’s not clear for how long.
A little time off is probably warranted, a reminder to think before one acts, and that staffers’ actions, fairly or unfairly, reflect on the candidate. But the McCain camp would be extraordinarily foolish to let him go permanently over this.
The issue isn’t really the content of the video, a mash-up of Obama statements and Wright’s statements from the pulpits. (I could have done without the Max-Headroom-style stuttering, Malcolm X, and the inclusion of the black power salute at the Olympics. Everything included is damaging enough without fiddling around with it.) It’s just that if Senator McCain chooses to not touch the controversy with a ten foot pole, that’s the campaign’s policy, and his staffers can’t decide to overrule that.
Having said that, a Twitter comment is pretty small potatoes.