“Because our military power dwarfs that of other countries - we spend more on defense than the rest of the world combined - this Administration believes that alliances and international institutions are more of a burden than a benefit. They allow the Lilliputians to tie down Gulliver.”

Attack mode expected from Biden tonight

By Jessica Fender

The Denver Post

DENVER — Democratic stalwarts expect Sen. Joseph Biden to deliver a tough attack on Sen. John McCain during the vice-presidential candidate's speech tonight.

Party loyalists remain anxious that nice-guy presidential candidate Barack Obama hasn't countered GOP attacks effectively, although Democratic leaders Tuesday spiced up their rhetoric with some bashing of McCain.

Waiting for Tuesday's program to begin, Michigan delegate Edna Bell said Biden has the type of experience necessary to take aim at McCain. Indeed, the Senate veterans traded criticisms at separate campaign stops Tuesday.

"He's the right person to frame John McCain and to tell the truth about the kind of things he's supported," said Bell, Wayne County chairwoman of Women for Obama. "I didn't expect [McCain] to be vilified early in the convention. That's demonstrative of who Barack Obama is. He's not an attack dog."

Attacks typically fall to vice-presidential candidates, although this campaign must strike a balance between optimism and criticism after a primary in which Obama identified himself as above partisan bickering, Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli said.

"They're incredibly conscious of their own image," Ciruli said of the Obama campaign. "One of the reasons he won [the primary] was because Hillary Clinton was the partisan. He was the one who was going to bring people together."

Ciruli said he expects Biden to focus on "economy, economy, economy" in his remarks tonight.

Polls show it's the top issue among voters, with up to twice as many people concerned about pocketbook issues than their second-most-talked-about concern, the Iraq war, he said.

Obama fans received a preview of Biden's thoughts on the economy Tuesday when he lambasted McCain's tax policy at an economic roundtable focused on women's issues and hosted by Michelle Obama.

The $100 billion in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans could instead be used to improve health care, Biden told a cheering crowd in Denver.

"How can you tell me, my friend John, that you're the party that values people?" Biden said. The Delaware Democrat added that his father used to say, "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."

Kucinich tells DNC: 'Wake up America!' David Edwards and Nick Juliano Published: Tuesday August 26, 2008

DENVER -- He might not have had the marquee billing of a Mark Warner or a Hillary Clinton, but Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) nonetheless whipped his party faithful into a frenzy Tuesday evening.

The Ohio lawmaker and liberal stalwart who earlier sought the Democratic presidential nomination delivered a passionate address calling on those in the audience here in Denver and watching at home to "wake up" and prevent another four years of Republican rule.

"Wake up America," Kucinich declared from the podium of the Democratic National Convention. "In 2001 the oil companies, the war contractors and the neocon-artists seized the economy and added $4 trillion of unproductive spending to the national debt. ... Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid for with borrowed money."

Though he never mentioned GOP nominee John McCain by name, Kucinich's address was in line with Democrats' strategy to take a harsher tone of attack against the Arizona Republican and his party.

"We cannot afford another Republican administration," Kucinich said. "Wake up, America; the insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America; the pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing. Wake up, America; the speculators took over Wall Street. ... Wake up, America; we went into Iraq for oil."

Kucinich, a favorite of the party's liberal base who has led a push to impeach President Bush, enumerated some of the administration's most egregious abuses but said they would not dampen Democrats' spirits. As his speech crescendoed to its peak, the audience rose in boisterous applause.

"This administration can tap our phones -- but they can' t tamper our creative spirit," he said. "They can open our mail, but the can' t open economic opportunities. They can track our every move, but they lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline, and electricity skyrockets. Now, they have skillfully played our post 9/11 fears, and they've allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many."

This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast August 26, 2008.




Download video