by Katie Fretland
Barack Obama couldn't make it today to a rally where nearly 300 people waited in North Carolina, so he gave a shortened speech by phone from St. Louis. He was stuck there following problems with his plane and an unexpected landing.
In the 10-minute call, Obama drew parallels between Republican Sen. John McCain and President Bush's policies on the economy.
"If you are satisfied with the way things are going now, then you should vote for John McCain," Obama said. "If you think that we need a fundamental change ... then we have a clear choice in this election and we've got to seize it."
Obama said the United States should work to better train and educate young people, invest in transportation infrastructure and develop a better energy policy.
"The central premise of this campaign has been when the economy works for everybody when it grows from the bottom up, that's not just good for individual Americans it's also good for the economy as a whole," Obama said. "John McCain wants to continue the same policies that George Bush made the cornerstone of his administration. They haven't worked."
The McCain camp responded by saying Obama's words were "empty."
"While Barack Obama campaigns on a promise of no tax hikes for anyone but the rich, we once again find that his words are empty when it comes time to act," Doug Holtz-Eakin, a McCain senior policy adviser, said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments
McSame wants to add to the Bush legacy as worst pres. ever. Give the regressives four more years and we'll be the newest third world country.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2008/07/02/notes070208.DTL
Posted by: dt | July 7, 2008 4:53 PM
It appears that Bush's third term, aka "President McCain", is going to be even more delusional than his first two.
The cornerstone of John McCain's deficit reduction plan is the crazy assumption that "victory" in Iraq and Afghanistan (whatever that means) is just around the corner.
Kind of reminds you of candy and flowers and being greeted as liberators, doesn't it? And promises of billions of dollars of oil guaranteed to pay for Iraqi reconstruction?
Slam dunks and cakewalks are undoubtedly just around the corner.
Posted by: John E | July 7, 2008 5:58 PM
McCain is Bush's third term and Obama is Carter's 2nd term. Want to compare?
Bush - six-plus years of economic gro9wth, low interest rates, low unemployment and low inflation.
Carter - inventor of the Misery Index - nuff said.
Posted by: Terry | July 7, 2008 11:12 PM
Terry, your right! The economy is just incredible! Couldn't be better. Look at the stock market, up all of 6% in the 7 1/2 years since Bush took office. At that rate, I can retire in only another 150 years! Maybe longer once McCain privatizes social security.
Keep pushing that line. I'm sure it will be a winner for the Republicans.
Posted by: Kit | July 8, 2008 9:34 AM
Kit,
Your point-2-point analysis is pretty sad.
Remember, President Bush inherited a recession in 2001 and 9-11 happened (the terrorist thing he inherited from CLinton also) and then his administration had to clean-up the accounting schnagins of the late 90's that help lead to the stock market bubble.
Posted by: Terry | July 8, 2008 4:09 PM