Poor Timing on Ayers Angle

John McCain now says — again — that Barack Obama will have to answer for his friendship with terrorist William Ayers at tomorrow night’s debate. He admitted today that though he didn’t use it in the debate last week, Obama has dared him to do so this time.

“I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised that I didn’t have the guts” to bring up Ayers, McCain said in a radio interview today, adding, “I think he is probably ensured that it will come up this time.”

McCain should make a better effort to conceal how much energy he reserves for personal pique, but that aside, the Ayers story is a true liability for the Obama campaign and a missed opportunity for the McCain campaign.

”I don’t regret setting bombs,” Ayers famously told The New York Times in 2001, adding, “I feel we didn’t do enough.” Obama and Ayers have served on boards together and have traveled for years in similar Chicago circles. There is, of course, the anecdote about Obama being hosted by Ayers in his home when becoming introduced to influential Chicagoans when launching his state Senate candidacy. Sound like a man running from an unrepentant terrorist?

Had McCain decided to tell this story in July, instead of running ads comparing Obama’s celebrity to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, he might have done some actual damage to Obama’s favorability, and it would likely have had more traction than those goofy Web films about his celebrity and his messiah status. McCain now says he doesn’t care about this old association but does care about Obama’s honesty on the subject. Good point, and again, it is too bad McCain didn’t think of that months ago.

Perhaps McCain never wanted to go down this road and only decided recently he was left with little choice if he wanted to win. If that is the case, someone should tell him the Ayers story has expired, because without the potency it would have had when the timing was right, it cannot help McCain. The process of chipping away at and questioning Obama’s character should have come before the party conventions so it was an established storyline to be reinforced once everyone was paying attention.

Now that the financial meltdown has drowned out all else, no attention will be paid by undecided voters, and they are the only ones who matter. How many undecided voters — people who still haven’t chosen McCain or Obama — will watch the final debate and be swayed by McCain’s appeal on Ayers? At this point there are better ways to spend his time.

AFTER THE DEBATE, WHERE IS THIS RACE? I want to hear from you. Do you know any undecideds — and if so, what are they weighing? Ask A.B. returns Monday, Oct. 20. Please join my weekly video Q & A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-stage.thehill.com. Thank you.