From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/05/1496279.aspxASHEVILLE, N.C. -- With just 30 days to go until Election Day, Obama told a crowd of some 28,000 people at a high school football stadium here that his rival was attacking him with smears because he had no ideas and was “running out of time.”
The senator said the McCain campaign wanted to "turn the page" on the discussion about the economy and spend the last month of the campaign launching "Swiftboat-style attacks" on him.
His comments came as the McCain campaign continued to link him with '60s radical William Ayers. Yesterday, Sarah Palin accused Obama of palling around "with terrorists who target their own country."
Rather than responding directly to Palin, Obama tried to appear above what he has called petty distractions and promised to keep his focus on "the issues."
”Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance," he said. "They’d rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. That’s what you do when you’re out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time."