The Philadelphia Take: McCain Strategy 'Just Dumb'

In Philadelphia this weekend, Governor Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter professed themselves utterly unimpressed with John McCain and Sarah Palin's personal attacks on Barack Obama.

"I have, like, zero interest in Sarah Palin," said Nutter, speaking to a scrum of reporters after an Obama event in Vernon Park. "You know people are focused on Senator Obama and trying to figure out what John McCain is talking about and I think Sarah Palin's 15 minutes of fame were up a long time ago."

Asked if he detected a racial undercurrent in the McCain attacks, Rendell said, "Not particularly. I think they're just stupid. They're dumb." He added. "They're all dumb. When people are facing the challenges in their own lives that they're facing, no one wants to hear that stuff. It's just dumb. You know, tell us what you want to do. I mean if he's got a plain for the mortgage bailout, explain it to the American people. You know, that might get people's interest."

Rendell also said that he and Nutter had been arguing that Obama should campaign more intensely in Philadelphia for some time.

"No question the mayor and I were clamoring to get into Philadelphia and we were clamoring to do this type of day," he said. "We had a little bit of a tug with Chicago but I think Chicago is pretty happy."

"Everyone in Germantown will know before they go to sleep tonight that Barack Obama was in Vernon Park," said Rendell. "Not down at Center City, not in Independence Hall, but down in Vernon Park."