McCain seems to have backed himself into a corner with his pronouncement that he'll bring up Ayers at the debate tonight. To begin with, it's never a good idea to tell your opponent exactly how you plan to "whip his you-know-what." I also don't think that raising Ayers unassisted will be helpful to McCain.
If Bob Schieffer brings up Ayers, and Obama's response is hesitant or evasive, then McCain has an opening to go after him without much in the way of negative consequences. If McCain has to bring up Ayers himself, then he runs the risk of trying to distract people from a.) whatever question Schieffer actually asked him; and b.) the general problems with the economy, etc. Obama's got an almost fool-proof answer, quoting McCain's staffer who said that "when we talk about issues we lose." Now that Schieffer knows that McCain's going to bring up Ayers, what incentive does he have to put the issue out there?
If McCain doesn't go after Obama on Ayers, he'll have really let down his base, and he'll face more criticism of the "say it to my face" variety from the Obama camp.
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