Breaking: Obama Launches Final Attack on McCain

By
Monday, November 03, 2008 at 10:51 am

On this last day before the election, Sen. Barack Obama is urging voters to relive some humiliating history. Speaking in Jacksonville, Fla., Obama will remind voters of the infamous declaration that Sen. John McCain made in the very same location about six weeks ago, according to a preview of the attack released by Obama’s campaign this morning.

“John McCain just doesn’t get it,” read Obama’s prepared remarks. “Remember what he said when he was here on Sept. 15? That day, more than 5,000 jobs were lost and [...] former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said we were in a ‘once in a century’ crisis. And yet, despite our economic crisis, John McCain actually came here, to Veterans’ Memorial Arena, and repeated something he’s said at least 16 times on this campaign. He said – and I quote – ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong.’”

Obama is planning to blast that claim, which his senior strategists believe marked a turning point in the campaign. “That’s not only fundamentally wrong, it also sums up his out-of-touch, on-your-own economic philosophy,” his preview text reads. “It’s a philosophy that says we should give a $700,000 tax cut to the average Fortune 500 CEO and $300 billion to the same Wall Street banks that got us into this mess. It’s a philosophy that says we shouldn’t give a penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans. And it’s a philosophy that will end when I am president of the United States of America!”

Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, was recently asked by Time what the “defining moment” was on the campaign, “the moment when you thought Obama could win?” Axelrod’s mind went to Jacksonville.

“In a weird way, that Monday, whatever it was, Sept. 15, when the financial crisis really erupted and Sen. McCain said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong, that was a pretty decisive moment in this campaign,” said Axelord. “I think that kicked off a couple of weeks where you saw a real strong contrast between these two candidates and I think redounded to our efforts culminating in the debates.”

It looks like Axelrod’s fingerprints are on this final salvo, which the campaign released at 10:06 Monday morning. At this frantic closing period of the campaign, of course, it’s rare for anything that the candidates’ say in speeches to break through.

In Florida, however, where McCain is also campaigning today, the attack may carry extra salience — with local history that McCain would rather forget.

Comments

20 Comments

Meagan
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 8:01 am

Interesting piece! With the 2008 presidential campaign finally wrapping up tomorrow, I thought you might be interested in some light-hearted political fun. Here at Public Agenda, we think that political movies have the potential to encourage public engagement, as many films explore intriguing social and political themes. That’s why Public Agenda is asking you to sound off on your favorite political movies!

We’ve posted a list of our favorites at http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/our-favorite-… and we’re asking you to post yours at http://www.publicagenda.org/forum/election-2008….

Also, be sure to check out our non-partisan Voter’s Survival Kit at http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides.


Robert Hopkins
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 8:41 am

Hopefully, after Obama realizes a victory in tomorrows election, the Republican Party will give up the Gingrich's hope of taking over the world and will concentrate on promoting candidates honestly interested in improving the United States.


NinaK
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 9:01 am

John McCain's campaign has been erratic and off-message from the very beginning. He started out as the experience guy, switched to the maverick guy, to the staright-talk guy, to the change guy, to the Palin guy (she is my partner and my soulmate), to double mavericks, to reformer, to Joe the Plumber is an American Hero, to the maverick (again), to the I know-how-to-win-wars guy, to the I know-how-to-catch-Bin Ladin guy , to the I know how to fix the economy guy (this latter from a guy who knows very little about economics and the economy as he, himself admitted). He changed his personas to match what he thought people wanted to hear at any given time and at any given area. He and his soulmate devided our country as Pro-America, Real Americans, Patriotic, believers in God, and the Best parts of the country!! Clearly, McCain and his soulmate see the rest of us as Un-American, Anti-American, Unpatriotic, heathens, and living in the worst parts of the country. They have neatly placed THEIR supporters in one box to keep and put the rest of us in another box to throw in the garbage dump!! Shame, shame on John McCain and Sarah Palin. To insult the greater portions of Americans in their insatiable quest for power is downright dispicable and beyond the pale!! What this pair does NOT understand is that ALL of us are AMERICANS, WE ALL LOVE OUR COUNTRY. TRUTH: TODD PALIN AND SARAH PALIN DO NOT LOVE AMERICA….Todd seven-year member of the Alaskan Independent Party whose members hate and condemn America, our institutions, our government, and refer to our American Flag as, “that damned flag”. Sarah Palin has supported, and attended meetings in, the AIP. In June 2008 we attended the AIP's annual convention, stood behind their podium and gleefully welcomed its members with congratulations and praise for the good work they were doing. That good work? Hating and condemning America, our institutions, our government and damning our American Flag!!! The AIP and its members and supporters HATE AMERICA SO VERY MUCH THAT THEY WANT TO SECEDE AND BEOME THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!


anon
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 9:02 am

um, so what exactly was “launched”? sounds like he re-iterated something…..


NinaK
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 9:05 am

(EDITED VERSION) John McCain's campaign has been erratic and off-message from the very beginning. He started out as the experience guy, switched to the maverick guy, to the staright-talk guy, to the change guy, to the Palin guy (she is my partner and my soulmate), to double mavericks, to reformer, to Joe the Plumber is an American Hero, to the maverick (again), to the I know-how-to-win-wars guy, to the I know-how-to-catch-Bin Ladin guy , to the I know how to fix the economy guy (this latter from a guy who knows very little about economics and the economy as he, himself admitted). He changed his personas to match what he thought people wanted to hear at any given time and at any given area. He and his soulmate devided our country as Pro-America, Real Americans, Patriotic, believers in God, and the Best parts of the country!! Clearly, McCain and his soulmate see the rest of us as Un-American, Anti-American, Unpatriotic, heathens, and living in the worst parts of the country. They have neatly placed THEIR supporters in one box to keep and put the rest of us in another box to throw in the garbage dump!! Shame, shame on John McCain and Sarah Palin. To insult the greater portions of Americans in their insatiable quest for power is downright dispicable and beyond the pale!! What this pair does NOT understand is that ALL of us are AMERICANS, WE ALL LOVE OUR COUNTRY. TRUTH: TODD PALIN AND SARAH PALIN DO NOT LOVE AMERICA….Todd seven-year member of the Alaskan Independent Party whose members hate and condemn America, our institutions, our government, and refer to our American Flag as, “that damned flag”. Sarah Palin has supported, and attended meetings in, the AIP. In June 2008 GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN attended the AIP's annual convention, stood behind their podium and gleefully welcomed its members with congratulations and praise for the good work they were doing. That good work? Hating and condemning America, our institutions, our government and damning our American Flag!!! The AIP and its members and supporters HATE AMERICA SO VERY MUCH THAT THEY WANT TO SECEDE AND BEOME THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!


james
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 9:05 am

Sure enough


Curtis J
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 9:31 am

I am a democrat but when Bill Clinton's 2nd term was nearing a close I actually got a little queasy thinking about another democrat sitting in the white house and for all the economic good Clinton did this country, all my pragmatic tendencies, with what I'd heard about “W” was kind of hoping he would be a fresh moral start for the country, but great leadership requires more than subjective analysis it requires humility in the face of absolute advantage, indeed the greatness of this country was founded upon a fair adversarial system based the upon rule of law but what troubles me about today's McCain supporters is that I can not determine if they are adversarial because the are really convinced their philosophy is good for the country or adversarial for confrontation sake alone. I sincerely doubt if they have the will and do as Obama and the Democratic party have done, reconstituted themselves and separated themselves from the extremists within its own party, for by picking as their nominee a black man and who is as a middle of the road politician as Clinton ever was, and shunning the Clinton political machine with all its baggage, took as big a gamble on the future of their party that has ever been taken in modern politics.


Hawaiian style
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 10:18 am

Is accurately quoting a candidate an “attack”?

Would you have a campaign where a candidate can say anything off the top of his head without critique or comment?


Curtis J
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 11:04 am

Deftly put H.S. deftly put, I suspect a lot of these so called liberal media outlets have a backhanded agenda, they have insulted the intelligence of the greater majority of the American public from the beginning including the McCain supporters, and that senator by his every action has insulted the intelligence of his own people, by feeding their unreasoning emotionalism and not challenging them to challenge the very sources from which the extracted words from such sources threaten not only the security of this nation but the world


Meagan
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 4:01 pm

Interesting piece! With the 2008 presidential campaign finally wrapping up tomorrow, I thought you might be interested in some light-hearted political fun. Here at Public Agenda, we think that political movies have the potential to encourage public engagement, as many films explore intriguing social and political themes. That’s why Public Agenda is asking you to sound off on your favorite political movies!

We’ve posted a list of our favorites at http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/our-favorite-… and we’re asking you to post yours at http://www.publicagenda.org/forum/election-2008….

Also, be sure to check out our non-partisan Voter’s Survival Kit at http://publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides.


Robert Hopkins
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 4:41 pm

Hopefully, after Obama realizes a victory in tomorrows election, the Republican Party will give up the Gingrich's hope of taking over the world and will concentrate on promoting candidates honestly interested in improving the United States.


NinaK
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 5:01 pm

John McCain's campaign has been erratic and off-message from the very beginning. He started out as the experience guy, switched to the maverick guy, to the staright-talk guy, to the change guy, to the Palin guy (she is my partner and my soulmate), to double mavericks, to reformer, to Joe the Plumber is an American Hero, to the maverick (again), to the I know-how-to-win-wars guy, to the I know-how-to-catch-Bin Ladin guy , to the I know how to fix the economy guy (this latter from a guy who knows very little about economics and the economy as he, himself admitted). He changed his personas to match what he thought people wanted to hear at any given time and at any given area. He and his soulmate devided our country as Pro-America, Real Americans, Patriotic, believers in God, and the Best parts of the country!! Clearly, McCain and his soulmate see the rest of us as Un-American, Anti-American, Unpatriotic, heathens, and living in the worst parts of the country. They have neatly placed THEIR supporters in one box to keep and put the rest of us in another box to throw in the garbage dump!! Shame, shame on John McCain and Sarah Palin. To insult the greater portions of Americans in their insatiable quest for power is downright dispicable and beyond the pale!! What this pair does NOT understand is that ALL of us are AMERICANS, WE ALL LOVE OUR COUNTRY. TRUTH: TODD PALIN AND SARAH PALIN DO NOT LOVE AMERICA….Todd seven-year member of the Alaskan Independent Party whose members hate and condemn America, our institutions, our government, and refer to our American Flag as, “that damned flag”. Sarah Palin has supported, and attended meetings in, the AIP. In June 2008 we attended the AIP's annual convention, stood behind their podium and gleefully welcomed its members with congratulations and praise for the good work they were doing. That good work? Hating and condemning America, our institutions, our government and damning our American Flag!!! The AIP and its members and supporters HATE AMERICA SO VERY MUCH THAT THEY WANT TO SECEDE AND BEOME THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!


anon
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 5:02 pm

um, so what exactly was “launched”? sounds like he re-iterated something…..


NinaK
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

(EDITED VERSION) John McCain's campaign has been erratic and off-message from the very beginning. He started out as the experience guy, switched to the maverick guy, to the staright-talk guy, to the change guy, to the Palin guy (she is my partner and my soulmate), to double mavericks, to reformer, to Joe the Plumber is an American Hero, to the maverick (again), to the I know-how-to-win-wars guy, to the I know-how-to-catch-Bin Ladin guy , to the I know how to fix the economy guy (this latter from a guy who knows very little about economics and the economy as he, himself admitted). He changed his personas to match what he thought people wanted to hear at any given time and at any given area. He and his soulmate devided our country as Pro-America, Real Americans, Patriotic, believers in God, and the Best parts of the country!! Clearly, McCain and his soulmate see the rest of us as Un-American, Anti-American, Unpatriotic, heathens, and living in the worst parts of the country. They have neatly placed THEIR supporters in one box to keep and put the rest of us in another box to throw in the garbage dump!! Shame, shame on John McCain and Sarah Palin. To insult the greater portions of Americans in their insatiable quest for power is downright dispicable and beyond the pale!! What this pair does NOT understand is that ALL of us are AMERICANS, WE ALL LOVE OUR COUNTRY. TRUTH: TODD PALIN AND SARAH PALIN DO NOT LOVE AMERICA….Todd seven-year member of the Alaskan Independent Party whose members hate and condemn America, our institutions, our government, and refer to our American Flag as, “that damned flag”. Sarah Palin has supported, and attended meetings in, the AIP. In June 2008 GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN attended the AIP's annual convention, stood behind their podium and gleefully welcomed its members with congratulations and praise for the good work they were doing. That good work? Hating and condemning America, our institutions, our government and damning our American Flag!!! The AIP and its members and supporters HATE AMERICA SO VERY MUCH THAT THEY WANT TO SECEDE AND BEOME THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!


james
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

Sure enough


Curtis J
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 5:31 pm

I am a democrat but when Bill Clinton's 2nd term was nearing a close I actually got a little queasy thinking about another democrat sitting in the white house and for all the economic good Clinton did this country, all my pragmatic tendencies, with what I'd heard about “W” was kind of hoping he would be a fresh moral start for the country, but great leadership requires more than subjective analysis it requires humility in the face of absolute advantage, indeed the greatness of this country was founded upon a fair adversarial system based the upon rule of law but what troubles me about today's McCain supporters is that I can not determine if they are adversarial because the are really convinced their philosophy is good for the country or adversarial for confrontation sake alone. I sincerely doubt if they have the will and do as Obama and the Democratic party have done, reconstituted themselves and separated themselves from the extremists within its own party, for by picking as their nominee a black man and who is as a middle of the road politician as Clinton ever was, and shunning the Clinton political machine with all its baggage, took as big a gamble on the future of their party that has ever been taken in modern politics.


Hawaiianstyle
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

Is accurately quoting a candidate an “attack”?

Would you have a campaign where a candidate can say anything off the top of his head without critique or comment?


Curtis J
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 7:04 pm

Deftly put H.S. deftly put, I suspect a lot of these so called liberal media outlets have a backhanded agenda, they have insulted the intelligence of the greater majority of the American public from the beginning including the McCain supporters, and that senator by his every action has insulted the intelligence of his own people, by feeding their unreasoning emotionalism and not challenging them to challenge the very sources from which the extracted words from such sources threaten not only the security of this nation but the world


Obama = McCain - Political Wrinkles
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Obama = McCain - Political Wrinkles
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