Barack Obama calls John McCain 'out of touch' on the economy
The Democratic candidate campaigns in Missouri as supporters in Denver prepare for a second day of convention activities. A new McCain TV ad quotes Hillary Clinton's previous criticism of Obama.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Democrat Barack Obama, focusing on the economy during a campaign stop at an airplane plant, said today that Republican rival John McCain was "out of touch" with voters on checkbook issues.
"If you didn't know how many homes you have, no wonder you think the economy is sound," Obama said, referring to McCain's recent confusion about how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own. "I don't think he gets it. He is out of touch. I don't think he realizes what ordinary Americans are going through. I don't think the Bush administration realizes what ordinary Americans are going through."
Obama vowed to end President Bush's rollback of constitutional curbs on government wiretapping and the denial of Geneva Convention protections for war-on-terror detainees. Obama promised that, if elected, he would instruct his staff to "go through every single executive order that George Bush issued" and restore protections.
"We're going to get our government back on track," he said.
The Illinois senator called for investment in the country's infrastructure, saying he hoped to shift some of the $10 billion a month spent in Iraq to highway, bridge and airplane construction at home.
"We need American taxpayer money rebuilding America and putting people back to work," Obama said.
Back in Denver, during the second day of the Democratic National Convention, the economy was also the focus for Obama's wife, Michelle, and his designated vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, at a round-table discussion on the challenges faced by women and families.
"As president, Barack is determined to change Washington so that instead of just talking about family values, we actually have policies that value families," Michelle Obama said.
As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to rally her forces to Obama's cause at tonight's convention session, Republicans attempted to exploit the tensions between the two Democratic candidates.
In a new TV ad, McCain reprised the Clinton primary campaign commercial that showed sleeping children and a phone ringing at 3 a.m. Called "Was She Right?" the ad quotes Clinton as saying that McCain "has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House -- and Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."
Clinton has disavowed such attacks, telling delegates from her home state of New York on Monday, "I'm Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message." But some of her supporters, angered that Obama did not select the senator and former first lady as his running mate, have vowed to vote for her during Wednesday night's roll call balloting -- even though she has released them to vote for Obama.
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who will give the keynote address tonight, is already taking heat from some critics. Warner, who is running for the Senate, plans to urge more bipartisanship. But Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and former Clinton advisor, urged a tougher line. "This isn't the Richmond Chamber of Commerce," he said this morning on CNN.
michael.finnegan@latimes.com
johanna.neuman@latimes.com
Finnegan reported from Kansas City, Neuman from Washington, D.C.
