Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sought to discredit Republican rival John McCain’s economic policies Monday as he continued a tour of battleground states.
Obama relentlessly attacked McCain at the North Carolina Fairgrounds in Raleigh, saying the Arizona senator’s economic plan benefits the rich, as well as highly profitable oil companies and other corporate interests.
“He calls himself a fiscal conservative and on the campaign trail he’s a passionate critic of government spending, and yet he has no problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for big corporations and a permanent occupation of Iraq policies that have left our children with a mountain of debt,” Obama said.
North Carolina has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 22 years, but with the state’s former senator, John Edwards, and Gov. Mike Easley sitting in the front row, Obama clearly signaled he aims to break that streak.
Obama plans to zero in on the economy for the next two weeks. He is calling for a $50 billion stimulus package, a tax on oil company profits and a $10 billion “foreclosure prevention fund” to bail out struggling homeowners.
Next up are stops in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, all of which except Pennsylvania voted for the GOP in 2004 but are considered in play this year. On Thursday, Obama made two appearances in Virginia, which has not favored a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964.
The McCain camp struck back shortly after the Obama speech ended. Sen. Richard Burr told reporters in a conference call that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times in the U.S. Senate and that McCain would fight for energy independence and target wasteful spending.
“Raising taxes on the part of Senator Obama is a pretty certain thing,” Burr said. “Senator McCain has been pretty bold in his pledge to keep taxes low.”
Political analysts believe Obama can compete effectively in some traditionally Republican states because of his ability to attract new and younger voters as well as mobilize the support of large African-American communities.
“North Carolina might be a bit of a stretch for him,” University of North Carolina political scientist Tom Carsey said. “But if he can’t win North Carolina, he might be in a position to force McCain to put resources in a state in which they didn’t have to before. If he can fight the fight in states where Republicans have won in the past, that’s the Democrats being on the offensive and that is good for them.”
