Regarding Ashley Todd, I’ve got two words for you…

Francisco ... Nava. (sniff, sniff) Smell test results coming soon…

UPDATE: I had to run out after posting this, but now that I’ve had more time to review the allegations and the this-is-what’s-gonna-happen-next Twittering, the smell test gets a D+. And I think I’m being generous. Even Pajamas Media and Michelle Malkin (no linky for the stinky) think this might be a hoax. From PJM:

A reader who says he’s a plastic surgeon writes that he believes the attack is superficial and may be a hoax. Chillingly, he closes with this line which I’m paraphrasing: “This may be a Tawana Brawley moment for Republicans.”

Chillingly.

MORE: From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review…

Police planned to administer a polygraph test to Ashley Todd, 20, because her statements about the attack conflict with evidence from the Citizens Bank ATM where she claims the incident occurred, police said.

UPDATE (10/24 9:30AM): A police representative was on MSNBC a short while ago and while she didn’t come right out and say it (she did use the word “inconsistencies” a lot), it was fairly obvious that Ashley Todd failed the polygraph test.

SIDE NOTE: I’ve been one of the few Obama supporters I know who hasn’t been nervous once (I swear, ask my wife) about his chances since our convention, but when I first heard about this story I became worried. Really worried. It fit tightly (and, as it turns out, too tightly) into the “Fear of a Black Country” narrative I’ve seen unfurled in the comment sections (and sometimes the posts) at wingnut and PUMA blogs over the last several weeks.  The storyline goes that a) African Americans will riot in the streets for days if Obama loses the election or b) that large packs of swarthy black thugs will roam he United States as Barack’s enforcers if he wins. Inevitably, someone or several people mention how they’re going to go out and buy a gun. If this story turned out to be true, in my opinion, it would have done severe damage to Obama’s campaign and from one early report I read before running up the “Francisco Nava” portion of this post, the McCain campaign was acutely aware of that and were actively pushing this story (I read that it was a campaign spokesperson who initially told the press that the “B” stood for “Barack"). John McCain called Ashley.  Sarah Palin called her, too. They were latching onto this story bigtime and were fully prepared to ride it for all it was worth. From what I’ve seen this morning, a lot of liberal blogs are still holding this story at arm’s length or not touching it at all, but I think it’s important that we clearly and loudly identify this as the HOAX that it appears to be and hang it around McCain and Palin’s necks because this story has already seeped into America’s feeding tube and it’s imperative that we yank it out of its throat hole before Twitter Brawley can do anymore damage than she’s already done.

UPDATE: Here’s a good post from a PA (Pittsburgh?) resident about the incident [via the comments at Instaputz].  Most interesting is this “UPDATE”:

Apparently local talk radio host Marty Griffin (KDKA 1020) isn’t buying it either. He’s reporting that Ms. Todd called the McCain campaign office before reporting this incident to the police.

Hang it around their necks.

UPDATE: New details from WPXI in Pittsburgh. She’s changed her story and the national chairman of the College Republican National Committee is going all in (much like someone else we know):

The College Republican National Committee confirms that before the attack, Todd had just finished a campaign assignment at the University of Pittsburgh.

The group’s national chairman, Charlie Smith, told Channel 11 News the alleged victim is taking time off to recover from what he views as a political hate crime.

“It’s really too bad that someone, anyone, would have to go through this type of intimidation and abuse when she’s just trying to be more politically active and more active in our democratic process,” said Smith.

Gawker has a lot more. And, as Betty Cracker points out in the comments, the Executive Vice President of FOX News blurted out the following on his blog:

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/23/08 at 05:06 PM • Permalink

Sorry for the off-topic comment, but Tweety just demolished Tom Ridge about Palin’s wardrobe malfunction on Hardball. Ridge looked gobsmacked. It was a thing of beauty to behold.

I was over at Ace’s place reading more of this ... this ... hard-hitting news.

Also, don’t miss the Sdaly, No! brilliance with their parody of the McCain campaign using dialogue from the Princess Bride.

Oh, I almost forgot ...

GO PHILS!!!

The backwards “B”, besides being the dead giveaway, illustrates an old, sad, joke: Q:What’s the difference between genius and stupidity? A:Genius has limits.

The crime itself is so very illogical and melodramatic it mirrors the cheap-novel gothic mind of a disturbed freshman: After getting sixty dollars,a pretty good haul, the mugger’s that outraged by a McPalin sticker? He hasn’t gotten used to seeing McPalin signs in Pittsburgh?
Instead of getting the hell out of there, he gently incises the more difficult of Barack Obama’s initials into her face, without leaving any ragged edges or even breaking the skin. Why not an O? Self-mutilation through scratching is a not uncommon practice among teenage girls. And I’m no expert in how blacked eyes heal, but this happened when, a couple days ago? The white of the blackened eye is clear.
For the first and probably last time in my life I have to write that I agree with Michelle Malkin on this. Which makes me breathless and sort of uneasy, but there you are. Hoax.

Good lord, I hadn’t heard about this (I expunged Drudge from my links folder awhile back—he must be trumpeting this to the heavens, complete with animated sirens and all...)

I’m with Mrs. Polly: sounds like an attention-seeking, borderline-personality disordered frosh stunt to me. I hope the chick gets the help she needs—from a shrink rather than a plastic surgeon.

Maybe McCain will launch an Amy the Munchausen Syndrome Sufferer tour in PA after he concludes the current Joe the Plumber swing through my long-suffering state. Lord knows he’s proven desperate enough to latch onto any random loon who attracts a camera and microphone on his behalf.

Francisco ... Nava.

And, as Gavin notes, Justin Zatkoff, too.

Oddly, while I’ve been muchmore worried than you overall, I thought the Obama campaign could contain this.  I agree, though, that it had the potential to be damaging.  My first thought was that it came from the top—“Who wants to take one for the team?” If Steve Schmidt were planning this, this is exactly how it would go:  female victim, Pennsylvania-but-close-to-the-Ohio-border, total trump card for the haters-at-Palin-rallies story.  I’m still not convinced this was all Ashley’s idea.

Steve Schmidt: “Hold still, this is going to hurt, but remember you’re taking one for America.”

Okay, I’m joking. I think she did this on her own out of desperation (and, as plenty of people have noted, mental illness). They’ve run a horrible campaign but even I don’t think they’re this stupid. I do think they pounced on it without any hesitation after finding out about it, though.

For the first and probably last time in my life I have to write that I agree with Michelle Malkin on this. Which makes me breathless and sort of uneasy

Me too but I remind myself of the old adage about even the broken clock being right twice a day . . . !  (Plus Malkin is witheringly cynical of just about everything that occurs in this world so she couldn’t change her tune here.) This whole thing reeked of Drama Queen Girl trying to dredge up attention from the beginning.  Or maybe she thought she was being a hero diverting attention away from Palin’s wardrobe.  The actual, ahem, evidence, seems to be supporting that it’s phony.  I’m guessing:  Whole thing pretty much forgotten by the time Barack comes back from Hawaii.

Sez the EVP of Faux News (via Wonkette):

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

Huh? Supposing for a moment Todd’s account were true, how could a random attack by some unknown thug justify a re-evaluation of Obama without resorting to racist guilt by association? A true story like that might indeed hurt Obama, but only if racism is an element.

I hope the Faux lackey is right about a hoax (which I am convinced this is) spelling the end of McCain’s chances, but I don’t buy that either. Not unless some proof emerges that the campaign was in on the hoax, which I doubt.

In other news, holy fuck, Obama is leading in Georgia? GEORGIA? The one Sherman torched? That can’t possibly be true.

In other news, holy fuck, Obama is leading in Georgia?

Yeah, I saw that.  Unbelievable.

but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee

What?  What could this possibly have to do with what they know or don’t know about Obama?  Is he suggesting the O campaign set this up or somehow had something to do with it?  (Barack’s latest strategy - associate myself with big scary black dudes who mug little white Republican girls along with all the domestic terrorists and racist preachers I pall around with). 

If the McCain campaign is really stupid enough to try and make capital on this through “race baiting” as he says, their campaign deserves to be over.  On the other hand they can’t seem to let Ayers go so maybe they are that dumb.

In other news, holy fuck, Obama is leading in Georgia?

It’s a good sign but only by one point and the MOE is 2-3 I think.  The really good news is that he doesn’t need Georgia to win.  It would just be icing on the cake!  But I would love to see him take virtually every state or at least not be blown out anywhere.  It would make a lot of difference if people try to claim he doesn’t really represent what the American people want after the election.

Chillingly.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

Hey, I’m in Georgia, which has been hard hit and economically gutted by Republican policies.  This surprises me not at all.

She apparently confessed to making the story up. (From http://kdka.com/)

“A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow.”

“A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow.”

KERBLOUY ! Yet another cheap stunt blows up in the face of the Wile E. Coyote campaign.