50% of Voters Believe Ayers Issue Has Hurt McCain Campaign

Take a step back and think. Forget your party affiliation or favorables/unfavorables. Just think about this:

Two candidates are running for President of a country. One candidate served as a POW in a time of war. The second candidate served on boards with a person who was terrorizing said country in the same decade that the first candidate was serving as POW. The second candidate tries to hide the fact that he had a relationship with said terrorist. First candidate brings this up in his campaign because he feels that the people voting for the next President have a right to know the truth. A poll is released saying that the first candidate's campaign is hurt by the issue. Does this even make sense?

Like many things, issues of the day, topics of the week, are seen clearly in my head but unlike some speakers I'm not always eloquent in my delivery of the thoughts. I'm not sure how you take the above paragraph, but hopefully I got my point across.

Why should this hurt John McCain's campaign? IMO, Obama has NOT been clear and truthful with the American people on his relationship with Ayers. I will keep saying this and keep saying this: I don't care who he associates with, just be honest with me! At least that way I can make an informed decision on who to vote for. Oh but wait....being honest with us might make us see you in a different light, right? And it's not that Ayers may or may not be advising Obama if he is elected President--I just want him to be upfront and honest. I don't understand why he can't understand this.

Here is the poll:
Just 28% of voters believe that John McCain’s campaign has been helped by talking about the relationship between Barack Obama and William Ayers. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 50% believe talk of that issue has hurt McCain’s effort while 15% say it has had no impact.
Ayers, now a college professor in Chicago, was part of a domestic terrorist group in the 1960s and remains unrepentant for his activities during that era. Just 13% of American voters have a favorable opinion of him while 62% hold an unfavorable view. Twenty-five percent (25%) don’t know enough to have an opinion either way.
Among political liberals, 25% have a favorable opinion of him while 44% give Ayers negative reviews. Seventy-three percent (73%) have an unfavorable opinion of Ayers, including 59% with a Very Unfavorable opinion.
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Overall, voters are evenly divided as to whether Obama has told the complete truth about his relationship with Ayers—41% say he has and 42% disagree. Obama and Ayers met during the 1990s in Chicago and travelled in similar political circles at the time Obama launched his political career.
In terms of how they will vote, 39% say the Obama-Ayers relationship is at least somewhat important, including 24% who say it is Very Important. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disagree and say that the issue is not an important voting consideration.
Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans say the Ayers issue is at least Somewhat Important. Only 16% of Democrats agree along with 37% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
If Obama is elected, just 15% of all voters believe Ayers will have a lot of influence over the policies of the Obama Administration. Another 18% say he will have a little bit of influence. Fifty-nine percent (59%) say he will have hardly any influence or none at all.
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