Mixed Messages

Political Punch:

This morning in Philly, Obama thanked McCain.

...This was followed by an odd response from the McCain campaign, as if the GOP senator had not last night admirably tried to calm down a bizarrely agitated crowd.

...What's the reason for the mixed messages? Well, the McCain campaign has no intention of letting up on the same character attacks on Obama that have been met on the stump with angry supporters yelling "treason!" "terrorist!" and "kill him!" when McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin invoke Obama's name.

...They're kind of in a weird place, let's say. They want to keep attacking Obama on these "associations," but they don't want to be held responsible for the kinds of ugly reactions these attacks find on the trail from McCain-Palin supporters.