Chicago Mayor Daley: McCain Desperate

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley responds with the Keating Five to this McCain ad.

Sun Times: "You had the Keating Five. We had the biggest scandal in America called savings and loan. The biggest scandal. People lost their homes because of greed. And no one is inferring [wrongdoing by] Sen. McCain and the others, who were always known as the Keating Five. So, if people start throwing dirt and mud, remember it comes back and hits you right in the face," Daley said.

Was the mayor suggesting that Obama get down and dirty by running an ad that reprises McCain's role in the Keating Five?

"It would be a great ad. Remember: People lost their life savings, their own homes for a guy named Keating out of Arizona," Daley said.

"If you want to get tough in politics, I can get as tough in politics as anyone else. If you want to do that, then you basically bring yourself down. When you start throwing mud, mud is gonna be thrown at you and it's gonna be sticking," the mayor said.

The McCain ad seeks to exploit Obama's ties to four men: former U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley, the mayor's brother; convicted political fixer Tony Rezko; Illinois Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago), Obama's political godfather, and Gov. Blagojevich, whose administration has been besieged by federal corruption investigations into hiring and contracts.

William Daley is identified in the ad as a "lobbyist," a role that, the mayor was quick to point out, his brother has never played.

"If they want to put me there [in the ad], fine. . . . Put me there. You don't have to put my brother Bill or my wife or anybody else. . . . Could you see an ad about Sen. McCain's wife and how wealthy they are? That would be unfair," the mayor said.