Democratic bloggers and party loyalists publicised a series of skeletons from Mr McCain’s early political career.
They include his friendship with Gordon Liddy, the former White House operative who spent four and a half years in jail for planning the break-in at the Watergate building. Appearing on Mr Liddy’s popular radio show last year, Mr McCain said his host showed “adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great” and said he was “proud” of Mr Liddy and his family.
Senior Democrats have pointed to Mr McCain’s association with an ultra-conservative group that supplied aid to rebels trying to overthrow the government of Nicaragua during the Iran-Contra affair.
In the early 1980s Mr McCain sat on the board of the US Council for World Freedom, which was part of an international organisation accused of being linked to former Nazi collaborators and Right-wing death squads in Central America.
Mr McCain’s aggressive approach in the first debate two weeks ago failed to pay any dividend in the polls. Economic turmoil has since pushed the Republican nominee further behind, with new polls in four swing states — North Carolina, Colorado, Wisconsin and New Hampshire — showing a gain of two to three points for Mr Obama ahead of the second debate.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/presidentialdebates/3153984/US-presidential-debate-John-McCain-faces-Watergate-threat-before-second-showdown.html