McCain Claims Obama Is Hamas Choice

John McCain's campaign plans to make an issue out of an alleged "endorsement" of Barack Obama by Hamas, TPM reports. In a conference call with bloggers yesterday, McCain defended a fundraising email that claimed Obama was the militant group's choice for president. "I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States," McCain said. "If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly."

The campaign followed with a statement calling the supposed endorsement "a legitimate issue for the American people to think about." McCain also slammed Obama's past association with a former Weatherman activist. A spokesman for the Obama camp said it was getting harder to believe McCain still plans to conduct "a respectful campaign" when he uses "the politics of association and makes claims he knows not to be true." (More Hamas stories.)