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You can attack him on economics. You can attack him on healthcare. But it's a low blow to question a man's loyalty to his baseball team. 
McCain Hits Obama on Baseball Loyalties
By Elisabeth Bumiller
John and Cindy McCain during a rally in Bensalem, Pa. (Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
BENSALEM, Pa.—John McCain has hit Barack Obama on taxes, the economy, national security, health care, earmarks, the mortgage crisis and his association with a 1960s radical. Now, Mr. McCain has gone after what he suggested was Mr. Obama’s flip-flopping on his choice of World Series teams, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I heard that Senator Obama was showing some love to the Rays down in Tampa Bay yesterday,’’ Mr. McCain told a modest crowd at a manufacturing plant on Tuesday morning here in this battleground state vital to his election on Nov. 4, as is Florida. “Now, I’m not dumb enough to get mixed up in a World Series between swing states, but I think I may have detected a little pattern with Senator Obama.’’
As the crowd booed, Mr. McCain added: “It’s pretty simple really. When he’s campaigning in Philadelphia, he roots for the Phillies, and when he’s campaigning in Tampa Bay, he shows love to the Rays. It’s kind of like the way he campaigns on tax cuts, but then votes for tax increases after he’s elected.
The remark about baseball loyalties somewhat echoed a statement from the Democratic National Committee last week about Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin.
For the record, Mr. Obama is a Chicago White Sox fan, but has temporarily switched to the Phillies for the Series. On Monday, he was endorsed at a rally in Tampa by six players for the Rays — outfielders Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford, and Fernando Perez, the pitchers David Price and Edwin Jackson, and Cliff Floyd, the designated hitter.
Mr. Obama shook their hands, hugged them, smiled and offered: “I’ve said from the beginning that I am a unity candidate, bringing people together. So when you see a White Sox Fan showing love to the Rays, and the Rays showing some love back – you know we are on to something right here.”
Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman, called Mr. McCain’s criticism ridiculous. “I guess these are the kinds of attacks you make when your campaign has conceded that if you talk about the economy, you’ll lose,” Mr. Vietor said in a statement. “Senator Obama said he’s rooting for the Phillies. Yesterday he said nice things about the members of the team who came out to support him, but that doesn’t change the fact that Tampa Bay bounced his White Sox out of the playoffs.”
The stop in Bensalem was Mr. McCain’s first of three today in Pennsylvania, where public polls show Mr. Obama with a double-digit lead. But the McCain campaign continues to say that its internal polls show the race in Pennsylvania much closer and that the state remains crucial to their election strategy.
By Elisabeth Bumiller
John and Cindy McCain during a rally in Bensalem, Pa. (Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
BENSALEM, Pa.—John McCain has hit Barack Obama on taxes, the economy, national security, health care, earmarks, the mortgage crisis and his association with a 1960s radical. Now, Mr. McCain has gone after what he suggested was Mr. Obama’s flip-flopping on his choice of World Series teams, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I heard that Senator Obama was showing some love to the Rays down in Tampa Bay yesterday,’’ Mr. McCain told a modest crowd at a manufacturing plant on Tuesday morning here in this battleground state vital to his election on Nov. 4, as is Florida. “Now, I’m not dumb enough to get mixed up in a World Series between swing states, but I think I may have detected a little pattern with Senator Obama.’’
As the crowd booed, Mr. McCain added: “It’s pretty simple really. When he’s campaigning in Philadelphia, he roots for the Phillies, and when he’s campaigning in Tampa Bay, he shows love to the Rays. It’s kind of like the way he campaigns on tax cuts, but then votes for tax increases after he’s elected.
The remark about baseball loyalties somewhat echoed a statement from the Democratic National Committee last week about Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin.
For the record, Mr. Obama is a Chicago White Sox fan, but has temporarily switched to the Phillies for the Series. On Monday, he was endorsed at a rally in Tampa by six players for the Rays — outfielders Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford, and Fernando Perez, the pitchers David Price and Edwin Jackson, and Cliff Floyd, the designated hitter.
Mr. Obama shook their hands, hugged them, smiled and offered: “I’ve said from the beginning that I am a unity candidate, bringing people together. So when you see a White Sox Fan showing love to the Rays, and the Rays showing some love back – you know we are on to something right here.”
Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman, called Mr. McCain’s criticism ridiculous. “I guess these are the kinds of attacks you make when your campaign has conceded that if you talk about the economy, you’ll lose,” Mr. Vietor said in a statement. “Senator Obama said he’s rooting for the Phillies. Yesterday he said nice things about the members of the team who came out to support him, but that doesn’t change the fact that Tampa Bay bounced his White Sox out of the playoffs.”
The stop in Bensalem was Mr. McCain’s first of three today in Pennsylvania, where public polls show Mr. Obama with a double-digit lead. But the McCain campaign continues to say that its internal polls show the race in Pennsylvania much closer and that the state remains crucial to their election strategy.
Sorry Imran, Sloww has you dead to rights here... no amount of dodging will save you now 
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