By Mike Dorning
Barack Obama today will offer what his aides call a "closing argument" for his campaign that casts next week's election as a verdict on the economic world view behind the Bush Administration's stewardship of the country.
"After twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he'd do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy," Obama will say, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign.
The Illinois senator will deliver the speech in Canton, Ohio, an economically struggling city in the state's northern industrial region. The state is a crucial battleground in which Obama and McCain remain in a close race and a state that Obama lost decisively during the primaries to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
The closing message will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the Obama campaign, which has prided itself on consistently reinforcing central themes with the voting public.
He focuses heavily on the kind of bread-and-butter issues that Clinton used to appeal to white working-class voters in Ohio and elsewhere during the Democratic primaries and which Obama increasingly has stressed as the economy worsened this year.
Obama blasts "policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street." And he promotes his promise of middle-class tax cut.
"The choice in this election isn't between tax cuts and no tax cuts. It's about whether you believe we should only reward wealth, or whether we should also reward the work and workers who create it," Obama plans to say.
In keeping with the approach Obama has taken throughout his presidential run, he also reaches for a bit of poetry to present his campaign in terms of a broader philosophical sweep and higher purpose.
"What we have lost in these last eight years cannot be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits alone," Obama plans to say. "What has also been lost is the idea that in this American story, each of us has a role to play. Each of us has a responsibility to work hard and look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has a responsibility to our fellow citizens."
Comments
As a conservative from the UK, I naturally support the GOP, however I think Obama has got it right when he says McCain has 'not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he'd do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy.'
McCain has shot himself in the foot. With his experience, all he had to give was leadership and concrete, imaginative policies. He has singularly failed and has allowed Obama to grab the headlines. His choice of Sarah Palin has been disastrous. Unless McCain can pull a rabbit out of the bag during this final week of campaigning, he is going to lose by a landslide.
Posted by: Andrew Allison | October 27, 2008 12:08 PM
We practically had to shout at McCain: We don't care about Bill Ayers or nephew Joe and his boyfriend. Tell us about our Job, our health insurance, and our pension. McCain got the message - but it is too late. ...................
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/27/mccain-has-found-his-voice-but-it-is-too-late/
Posted by: Ohg Rea Tone | October 27, 2008 12:11 PM
Mr. Allison,
I agree with you 100%. We need to know more about McCain's plans than "I will fight for you."
And yet, at this late hour, McCain and his woefully inadequate running mates keep throwing up straw-men and baseless inuendo.
They just don't get it.
Posted by: Concerned | October 27, 2008 12:53 PM
It's simple: the Republic Party wants to minimize taxes on income passed down from generation to generation via inheritances or income given to you as dividends from your investment portfolios, but wants to raise taxes on income produce by honest hard work.
Posted by: BC | October 27, 2008 1:05 PM
McGoo and Co. cant count. After that Palin clothes fiasco, we don't need them doing any math or shopping for us.
Posted by: SouthSideChicago | October 27, 2008 3:53 PM
Raising taxes on the rich - it worked in the 90s, let's do it again. Endless debt and deficits don't work, Republicans. We tried it in the 80s, didn't work. We tried it the last 8 years, didn't work. The Democrat's plan worked in the 90s, let's do it again. It's not that complicated. Do what works.
Posted by: Paul | October 27, 2008 5:08 PM
It is the economy and Obama is stupid on it.
Every solution Obama has is to tax the rich and give a subsidy or credit to the poor. This will make Jimmy Carter look like Milton Freidman.
He will over-regulate, just like what caused the sub-prime fiasco - gov't interference in the lending process.
Thsi is about economic freedom - who do you trust McCain or Obama?
Posted by: Terry | October 27, 2008 10:46 PM
He will over-regulate, just like what caused the sub-prime fiasco - gov't interference in the lending process.
Wow. Have you got that backwards.
The sub-slime fiasco was because in 2001 they passed several laws which de-regulated the markets, hence all the CDO's and other toxic swaps, with no money to back them up
Posted by: Libby | October 28, 2008 12:04 AM
Libby,
Any time you want to compare economic backgrounds, let me know.
Posted by: Terry | October 28, 2008 7:55 AM
Libby,
Those laws you refer to were passed in 1999, not 2001. If you are aware of laws passed in 2001, please let me know what you are referring to
Posted by: Terry | October 28, 2008 11:14 AM