Obama: "McCain Is Out Of Touch"

Obama, on the Republican National Convention:

"If you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn't know that we have the highest unemployment in five years because they didn't say a thing about what is going on with the middle class.

"They spent a lot of time talking about John McCain's biography, which we all honor," the Illinois senator said. "They talked about me a lot, in less than respectful terms. What they didn't talk about is you and what you're seeing in your lives and what you're going through, or what your friends or your neighbors are going through."

Did anyone doubt that Obama was going to say this, even before McCain gave his speech?

Since Obama apparently wasn't paying attention (and is counting on the fact that most other voters weren't either), here are some excerpts (full text is here). I apologize for the lengthy quotes, but that just makes my point that he did talk about the struggles of the middle class quite extensively:

These are tough times for many of you. You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.

...

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.

I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake works on a loading dock; coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her Master’s Degree. They have two sons, the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.

...

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas. Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families. Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit. Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.

I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That’s going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.

We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

Some may disagree with his economic policy, but to say "he didn't say a thing" about the struggling economy is an outright lie.

McCain: "We'll Make Up the Difference"

Today reinforced my belief that the pundits on TV aren't paying attention to the speeches they comment on, and are not worth our time. How many times have I heard someone talk about how he said drilling would solve our problem (which is not true, he talked about wind, nuclear, and other sources of energy, and specifically said drilling would not solve the problem by itself). Another thing I'm hearing is that he didn't offer any specifics on how he would help struggling families. Apparently they weren't paying attention. Apparently conservatives weren't either. I was surprised to hear them cheer for this line:

For workers in industries -- for workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower-paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

So there's a specific for you, but is it just me, or does this sound like a new government welfare program? I must have missed something though because conservatives don't seem to be upset by it, despite the repeated call for less government dependency throughout the convention.

I wonder how this plan will be implemented. So the government will give a check to someone working at McDonalds because they used to work at an auto plant. But the person working next to that person will not receive a check, because they never worked at the auto plant? Does that make sense?

Obama: "McCain's Not One of Us"

McCain made a double-gaff this week. First, he jokingly says that a 5 million dollar income is rich. And then he forgot how many houses he owns (I can just hear his campaign staff smacking their foreheads). Now, Obama would be politically negligent not to jump all over these comments, but I'm not going to give him a pass just because he's doing what any other politician would do. After all, he's supposed to represent the new politics, remember?



For one thing, the 5 million thing was clearly a joke. He picked a high number to make the point that it doesn't matter (he has a bad habit of doing this), since he's not going to raise taxes on anyone.

Secondly, while I admit that not knowing how many houses you own is certainly strange, owning a lot of houses means nothing. Do you think there aren't plenty of Democrats that have a lot of assets? I seem to remember one primary contender that I think has been in the news lately.

But while jumping all over McCain's gaffs, Obama made a mini-gaff of his own. Just after this clip ends, Obama reportedly said:

But if you’re like me, and you got one house, or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don’t lose their home, you might have a different perspective.

Like you? Oh yes, those millions of Americans with 1.65 million dollar homes.

Wrong Rating: 1 out of 4 (spin)

(p.s. I wonder if McCain's perceived stumbling on this issue will make him less likely to pick Romney as the V.P.)