Obama Hammers McCain Campaign Manager for Saying 'This Election is Not About Issues'

September 03, 2008 1:38 PM

NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO -- Responding to comments made Tuesday to the Washington Post by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis that "this election is not about issues, this election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates," Sen.Barack Obama, D-Illinois, accused his rival, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of having no issues to run on.

"John McCain's campaign manager said that this election is not going to be about the issues, it's going to be about personalities," Obama said at a town hall meeting aimed at women and economic issues. "That's a quote. He said its not going to be about – it's not going to be about the issues, its going to be about personalities, which probably explains why last night when they were speaking, all these speakers came up – you did not hear a single word about the economy."

"Think about it," Obama continued, standing in the blazing sun at Kent State University's Tuscarawas campus. "Not once did people mention the hardships that folks are going though, not once did they mention what are we going to do about keeping jobs here in Ohio, not once did they mention what are we doing about all these retirees that are losing their pensions, not once did they mention how are we going to make sure Social Security is there for the next generation, not once did they mention how are we going to make college more affordable so that young people aren't taking out 40 or 50 thousand dollars in debt, not once did they mention how are we going to make sure people can stay in their homes."

Obama said, "I guess I don't blame them. Because if you don't have any issues to run on I guess you want it all to be on personality. And if you've got George Bush's track record and John McCain voting 90% of the time in agreement with George Bush then you probably don't want to talk about the issues either."

"I don't know what John McCain's thinking," Obama concluded, "but I'm going to be talking a whole lot about issues....John McCain's campaign manger is wrong, it's not about personality, it's about the issues that you are facing in your day to day lives."

Obama also said that Tuesday former senior McCain adviser, former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, had "repeated" his use of the word "whining" when describing Americans going through tough economic times.

Gramm told a Financial Services Roundtable event in Minneapolis Tuesday that "if you're sitting here today, you're not economically illiterate and you're not a whiner, so I'm not worried about who you're going to vote for." Gramm had been alluding to comments he made in July that the U.S. is in "a mental recession...We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."

"He said the same thing about whining," Obama said today. "'Stop whining.'"

At another point in his remarks, Obama, as has become a campaign tradition, misstated the name of the town he was visiting, calling New Philadelphia "New Pennsylvania."

-- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller

Obama Explains What 'Country First' Means to Him

September 03, 2008 2:46 PM

At a town hall meeting in New Philadelphia, Ohio, this afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was asked about the "Country First" placards all over the GOP convention.

"Let's understand what is going to be at stake in this election," Obama said. "John McCain’s campaign manager says it's about personalities, and what he really means is he wants to make this campaign all about biography. And let me say this. I mean, being a POW for six years, it’s extraordinary, I mean, the courage and the resilience that John McCain showed, you know, nobody disputes that -- we all honor it. And we all admire it.

"But for me, and I think for you, the measure of the next president is how effectively is he going to help make your lives better?" Obama continued. "How well is he going to help create new jobs? Does he have any idea about what the new jobs of the future are going to be? Does he have a sense of how we have to ... reform our education system so every child has real opportunity?"

Obama continued in that vein, listing all sorts of domestic issues that need tackling, from health care to the deficit.

Finally, he wrapped it up, saying, "My definition of putting country first is making sure that we are safe, not hesitating to strike against our enemies. But it also means making our economy strong, because ultimately, if our economy is strong, then our military will be strong, and we will be able to secure our homeland for many years to come."

- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller