Mixed Messages

The Hill:

Over the last several days, while Democratic nominee Barack Obama has emphasized his "closing argument," McCain's campaign has employed a variety attacks against the Illinois senator: they criticized him for wanting to "spread the wealth," promoted the Joe the Plumber tour, reminded voters of Obama’s past relationships with domestic terrorist William Ayers, questioned Obama's readiness to be commander-in-chief, warned about the dangers of one party rule, and hit Obama for voting for the 2005 energy bill, among other things.

With five days left until the election, Time's Mark Halperin counted seven messages from the McCain campaign while The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder counted five.