Taegan Goddard reports that John McCain confirmed this morning he would try to bring up William Ayers at Wednesday's debate. McCain appeared to blame Obama for the move:
In an interview on a St. Louis radio station, McCain said Obama's comments that "I didn't have the guts" to talk about William Ayers in the last presidential debate have "probably ensured" that the former 1960s radical will come up in Wednesday's debate.
The Huffington Post's Seth Colter Walls wrote Monday that Ayers was "expected" to come up at the debate.
When asked if McCain plans to "go after" Obama on these topics this Wednesday, Bounds added: "So much of a debate is determined by the moderator and the questions that are posed to the candidates. I expect it could come up and I expect John McCain will ask Barack Obama to speak truthfully about his relationship with friend and unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. I think that voters deserve to know, deserve to vet these candidates to the fullest extent... Certainly, Bill Ayers raises questions. Certainly, Tony Rezko raises questions."
If it is McCain's intention to raise the issue of Ayers -- with or without moderator Bob Schieffer's prompting -- it would serve as something of an answered prayer to many of the Arizonan's town hall attendees, one of whom even begged McCain to bring on the character attacks in the last presidential debate of the season.