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Clinton, Obama attack McCain over lack of economic expertise
Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trained their sights on Tuesday on presumed Republican nominee John McCain - needling him over his lack of economic expertise and what they said was his failure to understand the financial troubles of average Americans.
- By Maeve Reston and Peter Nicholas, Lat-WP
- Published: 00:05 April 3, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton greets supporters as she campaigns at Montgomery Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trained their sights on Tuesday on presumed Republican nominee John McCain - needling him over his lack of economic expertise and what they said was his failure to understand the financial troubles of average Americans.
Wrestling for votes in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22, Clinton and Obama mocked McCain for conceding last year that economic policy "is not something I've understood as well as I should."
During a town hall-style meeting here, Obama said McCain offers "four more years of the same George W. Bush policies that have gotten us into the pickle that we're in right now."
He argued that McCain is most interested in tax cuts for wealthy Americans and trade agreements "that fail to look after American workers."
McCain's response to the housing crisis, Obama said, "amounts to little more than standing on the sidelines and watching millions of Americans lose their homes."
Similar themes
Clinton touched on similar themes as she addressed the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO in Philadelphia. "He looked at the housing crisis, and he blamed consumers," Clinton said of McCain, according to a text of her remarks.
"The Bush-McCain philosophy could not be clearer: It's the ownership society, which really means - 'You're on your own'."
Steve Schmidt, a senior McCain adviser, on Tuesday described the economic plans of both Democratic candidates as "a recipe for disaster for the American family."
"John McCain is going to make an argument to the American people that we don't want to turn a page back to the failed policies of the past - of high taxes, of out of control spending, of a regulatory environment that punishes the job creator," Schmidt said.
McCain returned to his alma mater, Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday morning as part of his campaign tour highlighting experiences that shaped his values.
He all but ignored his Democratic rivals when he spoke to several hundred students in the school's field house about his indiscretions as a youth and his tendency to respond "aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly" when his honour was challenged.
McCain told students that the honour code he adopted at Episcopal stayed with him even in his most difficult hours as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
Bowl-off: April Fools joke
Democrat Hillary Clinton walked somberly into a press conference and stood before microphones. Reporters tensed, sensing something big might be afoot.
"This has been a very hard-fought race," she said on Tuesday. "We clearly need to do something so that our party and our people can make the right decision. So, I have a proposal." The tension grew.
Reporters shifted in their seats. Was she dropping out of the race? Offering to join rival Barack Obama as his running mate? April Fools! "Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off," Clinton said, provoking relieved laughs from the assembled scribes.
Clinton carried on, making reference to Obama's disastrous outing at a Pennsylvania bowling alley on Saturday.
"A bowling night. Right here in Pennsylvania. The winner take all," she went on. "I'll even spot him two frames." "It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted."
- AP
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