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Patriot Games
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http://newsmax.com/politics/obama_mccain/2008/04/01/84635.html
Obama Casts Race Between Him, McCain
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Sen. Barack Obama is talking about the elephant in the
room - Republican rival John McCain - and all but ignoring the Democratic
donkey who stands between him and his party's presidential nomination.
Even though Hillary Rodham Clinton was campaigning just down the Northeast
Extension in Philadelphia, Obama criticized the likely Republican nominee's
policies on the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, trade and tax cuts. In his
town-hall session Tuesday, and in other campaign appearances in recent days,
Obama has sought to frame the race as a general election matchup between him
and McCain.
Of course, there's the little matter of a Pennsylvania primary on April 22,
and Clinton's double-digit lead in recent state polls.
The extended presidential nomination contest has resulted in an odd
political triangle, with each candidate taking alternate turns criticizing
one or both of their competitors.
"He's on a biography tour right now," Obama said of McCain. "Most of us know
his biography, and it's worthy of our admiration. My argument with John
McCain is not with his biography, it's with his policies."
Obama argued that McCain would merely be another four years of President
Bush on economic and military policies. McCain has criticized Obama as being
inexperienced on national security, and the Illinois senator answered back.
"Meanwhile Senator McCain has been saying I don't understand national
security, but he's the one who wants to keep tens of thousands of United
States troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years," Obama said.
The McCain and Obama camps have been feuding for days over remarks McCain
recently made when he said the U.S. could end up having a long-term military
presence in Iraq, similar to the more than 50-year presence of U.S. soldiers
in Germany and South Korea.
"One hundred years in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 may make
sense to George Bush and John McCain but it is the wrong thing to do. It is
not right for our national security. It is not right for our economy," Obama
said to applause at a town hall.
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama's remarks show his "complete lack
of preparedness to be commander in chief."
"His attempt to paint McCain's position as something else is nothing but the
disingenuous, old-style politics that he claims to reject," Bounds said.
Though the primary contest has heightened tensions among Democrats fearful
it will hurt their chances of winning the general election in November,
Obama told the crowd not to worry.
"I don't buy this whole thing that people are super-divided," he said in
response to a question. "We are going to come together and focus on the fact
that John McCain wants to continue the war in Iraq, I want to end it, John
McCain wants to continue George Bush's economic policies."
For all his complaints about McCain, Obama also talked tough on
international trade issues - a sensitive subject in a state with plenty of
blue-collar Democratic votes to be won.
An Iraq war veteran asked the senator's opinion of a recent decision by the
Pentagon to award a a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to a consortium
led by Airbus, located in Europe, over a bid led by U.S.-based Boeing.
Obama said he had concerns about the deal but an investigation was warranted
to find out more.
"I don't mind the Pentagon procuring from other countries but when you've
got such an enormous contract for such a vital piece of our U.S. military
arsenal, it strikes me that we should have identified a U.S. company that
could do it," he said, though he added that he might conclude the decision
was justified if it turns out Airbus' bid was 10-15 percent better than
Boeing's.
McCain has faced questions about the contract because some of his current
advisers lobbied last year for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space
Co., the parent company of plane maker Airbus. EADS and its U.S. partner
Northrop Grumman Corp. beat Boeing Co. for the lucrative aerial refueling
contract.
McCain has said his inquiries into the contract were designed to ensure
evenhanded bidding and denied they were motivated by lobbyists who are close
advisers to his presidential campaign.
Obama cautioned that just protecting jobs won't be enough, that the
government must do more to nurture workers and businesses that can thrive in
the global economy.
"Those who want to draw a moat around America, it's not going to work, with
the internet with technology with automation we've got to compete," he said.
Obama Casts Race Between Him, McCain
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Sen. Barack Obama is talking about the elephant in the
room - Republican rival John McCain - and all but ignoring the Democratic
donkey who stands between him and his party's presidential nomination.
Even though Hillary Rodham Clinton was campaigning just down the Northeast
Extension in Philadelphia, Obama criticized the likely Republican nominee's
policies on the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, trade and tax cuts. In his
town-hall session Tuesday, and in other campaign appearances in recent days,
Obama has sought to frame the race as a general election matchup between him
and McCain.
Of course, there's the little matter of a Pennsylvania primary on April 22,
and Clinton's double-digit lead in recent state polls.
The extended presidential nomination contest has resulted in an odd
political triangle, with each candidate taking alternate turns criticizing
one or both of their competitors.
"He's on a biography tour right now," Obama said of McCain. "Most of us know
his biography, and it's worthy of our admiration. My argument with John
McCain is not with his biography, it's with his policies."
Obama argued that McCain would merely be another four years of President
Bush on economic and military policies. McCain has criticized Obama as being
inexperienced on national security, and the Illinois senator answered back.
"Meanwhile Senator McCain has been saying I don't understand national
security, but he's the one who wants to keep tens of thousands of United
States troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years," Obama said.
The McCain and Obama camps have been feuding for days over remarks McCain
recently made when he said the U.S. could end up having a long-term military
presence in Iraq, similar to the more than 50-year presence of U.S. soldiers
in Germany and South Korea.
"One hundred years in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 may make
sense to George Bush and John McCain but it is the wrong thing to do. It is
not right for our national security. It is not right for our economy," Obama
said to applause at a town hall.
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama's remarks show his "complete lack
of preparedness to be commander in chief."
"His attempt to paint McCain's position as something else is nothing but the
disingenuous, old-style politics that he claims to reject," Bounds said.
Though the primary contest has heightened tensions among Democrats fearful
it will hurt their chances of winning the general election in November,
Obama told the crowd not to worry.
"I don't buy this whole thing that people are super-divided," he said in
response to a question. "We are going to come together and focus on the fact
that John McCain wants to continue the war in Iraq, I want to end it, John
McCain wants to continue George Bush's economic policies."
For all his complaints about McCain, Obama also talked tough on
international trade issues - a sensitive subject in a state with plenty of
blue-collar Democratic votes to be won.
An Iraq war veteran asked the senator's opinion of a recent decision by the
Pentagon to award a a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to a consortium
led by Airbus, located in Europe, over a bid led by U.S.-based Boeing.
Obama said he had concerns about the deal but an investigation was warranted
to find out more.
"I don't mind the Pentagon procuring from other countries but when you've
got such an enormous contract for such a vital piece of our U.S. military
arsenal, it strikes me that we should have identified a U.S. company that
could do it," he said, though he added that he might conclude the decision
was justified if it turns out Airbus' bid was 10-15 percent better than
Boeing's.
McCain has faced questions about the contract because some of his current
advisers lobbied last year for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space
Co., the parent company of plane maker Airbus. EADS and its U.S. partner
Northrop Grumman Corp. beat Boeing Co. for the lucrative aerial refueling
contract.
McCain has said his inquiries into the contract were designed to ensure
evenhanded bidding and denied they were motivated by lobbyists who are close
advisers to his presidential campaign.
Obama cautioned that just protecting jobs won't be enough, that the
government must do more to nurture workers and businesses that can thrive in
the global economy.
"Those who want to draw a moat around America, it's not going to work, with
the internet with technology with automation we've got to compete," he said.