In Philadelphia, Obama paints McCain as out of touch
The Democrat speaks to 15,000 in the first of four campaign stops in the city today. He courts working-class voters who sided with Clinton in Pennsylvania's primary.
PHILADELPHIA — Barack Obama barnstormed the city of Brotherly Love this morning, telling thousands of supporters that their votes and their volunteering will play a crucial role in deciding the presidency.
"If you will join with me, if you will work with me and organize with me and make phone calls with me and knock on doors with me, I promise you we won't just win Philadelphia. We'll win Pennsylvania, and you and I together, we are going to change this country and we are going to change the world," Obama told 15,000 cheering supporters gathered under a cloudless sky in a middle-class black neighborhood near Temple University.
That rally was the first of four stops the Democratic presidential nominee has scheduled in the city today -- highlighting the importance of turning out votes in Philadelphia to offset Republican rival John McCain's popularity in the middle of the state and along the New York border.
Hillary Rodham Clinton did well among working-class white voters in northeast Philadelphia, helping her beat Obama by 9 percentage points in the Pennsylvania primary. So when Obama rallied thousands outside the Mayfair Diner -- in a northeast neighborhood full of brick row houses with pumpkins on the stoops -- he sought to portray McCain as out of touch with working families.
"John doesn't really seem to get what's going on. . . . He talked about how the fundamentals of the economy are strong," Obama said. "I don't know about you, but where I come from, nothing's more fundamental than a job. Nothing's more fundamental than healthcare and a paycheck."
Obama touted his proposals to provide every American with healthcare, to cut middle-class taxes, to create green jobs and to provide loans to small businesses.
The candidate also praised McCain's call Friday to tone down the vitriol at recent Republican rallies.
"Sen. McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric at a town hall meeting yesterday," he said. "I appreciated his reminder we can disagree while still being respectful of each other."
But he urged voters not to be "bamboozled" by the McCain campaign's talk about change.
"Change isn't just a slogan," he said. "Change is an understanding of what the American people are going through."
Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes are vital to winning the White House, and both campaigns are blanketing the airwaves with ads, have massive ground operations and visit the state frequently.
