|
Obama hits out at Palin low blow
BARACK Obama has accused Republican rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin of a low blow after the vice-presidential candidate said he "palled around" with terrorists.Mrs Palin raised Senator Obama's connection with Bill Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era radical group the Weathermen, after a New York Times report outlined the link between them. The group carried out a series of bombings on the Pentagon and other government buildings. The Times report backed up Senator Obama's assertions that he is only loosely connected to Mr Ayers in Chicago's local politics. But Mrs Palin accused the Illinois senator of "palling around with terrorists" and said the Democrat was therefore "not a man who sees America as you and I do, as the greatest force for good in the world". Senator Obama has hammered Senator McCain and Mrs Palin for engaging in low-blow personal attacks a month from election day. "Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance," Senator Obama told a giant crowd in North Carolina, estimated by police to number at least 28,000 people. "They'd rather tear our campaign down than lift this country up. That's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time," he said, ahead of the second presidential debate on Wednesday (AEST). A new Obama campaign TV ad called Senator McCain "erratic" and "out of touch". It featured footage of a shuttered factory, a panicked financial trading floor and a family struggling to make ends meet. It juxtaposed those images with remarks from top McCain adviser Greg Strimple, who said the campaign was "looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis" and instead attack Senator Obama record in the Senate. "We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and John McCain wants us to 'turn the page' on talking about the economy?" Senator Obama said, drawing derisive jeers from the rally crowd. Senator McCain is preparing for Wednesday's debate near his ranch in Arizona, and is seen as needing a game-changing performance to turn the tide in the build-up to the November 5 (AEST) vote. On the home stretch of the campaign, Senator Obama said he would hammer away at the issues as crisis sweeps through Wall Street and batters household budgets. The polls are breaking his way both nationally and in battleground states. A national tracking poll by Gallup gives Senator Obama 50 per cent support, compared with 43 per cent for Senator McCain. Senator McCain's campaign more or less gave up on winning Michigan late last week, surrendering one of the states Republicans had targeted with substantial money and resources. Posted by: tipper 2008-10-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=251942 |