McCain's "that one"

CNN's coverage of McCain's "that one" during the debate focused briefly on how what he said was condescending and racist before defending him for not bringing up Bill Ayers and calling this an "encouraging sign" about the campaign. Why was the pundit quick to change the subject and defend the candidate? It is an important question to ask, because it can very easily be interpreted as racist and off limits to say. And why is it so important that he did not bring up Bill Ayers? The media is bringing it up enough anyway that McCain does not need to bother bringing it up himself to make voters think about it, the media is doing his work for him.

Furthermore, the pundit David Gergen continued to talk about how Republican rallies lately with Palin have been getting out of hand because people in the crowds have begun yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" about Obama. Anderson Cooper, who was asking the pundit questions about this, goes, "You can't control what people say, though, in a rally, can you, David?" as if to say instead, "Well, this isn't really that big of a deal, is it?" The pundit did say in response, though, that they can control it by stopping and saying this will not be condoned, which at least partly holds the McCain camp responsible.