Team Obama On Palin Speech: Distortions
PITTSBURGH -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention last night was full of distortions and showed she was a typical politician and not the outsider she portrays herself to be, according to Barack Obama's chief strategist.
"We respect her. She's a skilled politician as she proved last night. She's deft at going on the attack," David Axelrod told reporters before taking off for Harrisburg Thursday morning. "For someone who makes the point that she's not from Washington, she looked very much like she'd fit in very well there. When you see how she brings these attacks, they all felt very familiar to Americans who are used to this kind of thing from Washington."
Axelrod argued "there wasn't one thing that she [Palin] said about Obama or what he's proposing that's true" and talked specifically about the Illinois senator's plans for tax cuts. He said Obama's tax cuts would benefit more people than McCain's proposals.
As has been the case on the stump over the last several weeks, the message during the brief gaggle with reporters on the plane, along with senior strategist Robert Gibbs' appearance on television this morning, was that McCain and the Republican Party have no plans to help middle class and working class families.
Axelrod hit back against Rudy Giuliani's and Palin's attacks on Obama's work as a community organizer, saying that while rebuilding communities may not mean much for the former New York mayor, who gets paid millions of dollars to keep low cost drugs from entering the country working "as an agent for Pharma," that everyday people appreciate Obama's efforts.
"I think Sen. Obama's taking the whole thing in stride," Axelrod said. "I don't think he expected gingerly treatment for the reasons that I said. I think he understands they don't really have a record to run on, and this is what politicians do when they don't have a record to run on."
He also responded to a McCain campaign spokesperson's suggestion on MSNBC's Morning Joe that it doesn't matter whether Palin appears before the press to take questions.
"I think anybody's who's running for president or vice president of the United States ought to be willing to answer questions and certainly she should as well," he said. "I don't even think that's a disputable fact. I don't think the American people are gonna tolerate candidates who are unwilling to answer basic questions about their record, about issues, about where they'd lead the country."
(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)
The Dems are playing this exactly right. She is going to go down quickly when people find out that she is a serial liar and opportunist. The fact that she "knows how" to fire up the 20% who still support George W. Bush means absolutely nothing. I really feel sorry for her b/c in the end, she will be blamed for McSame's campaign.
Ethan sits alone in the dark, imagining what the real world must be like. He has only his bible and his guns to cling to, his hero and messiah speek to him in the dark. he hears their voices in his head. They promise him change, a change he can believe in, maybe now he will be able to come out... of the closet.
Haha. You're disturbed Dale. And it is no surprise that you have no response to the issues. Spin and insults are just all you 20%ers know.
The self proclaimed voice of the people and moral activist speaks, he attacks his enemies with name calling and quotes statistics and percentage points, and as he has admittedly pointed out, he is the one with issues.
So let's talk about the issues - I don't hear any issues coming from Ethan.
Let's talk specifics:
Health care
Immigration
Taxes
Energy
Identity politics from the 20%ers. Make it about me. Haha. I'm not going to argue specifics with you. I don't have the time. But if you really DO care about the issues, you can read all of Barack Obama's plans on his website.
I think you should read them because, as I said, you will find that the FACTS show Barack Obama to have thorough plans for making America better and the Right Wing has yet again endorsed an erratic and dangerous Bush philosophy and approach to campaigning and governing.
Do the Republicans not believe that a stable middle class is in the best interest of the country? In all their speeches so far I have not seen anything that directly addresses the following issues that are of great concern to the average American today:
1. How to reduce the growing income and wealth gap in our country.
2. How to reduce partisanship and divisions in our society.
3. How to increase jobs that stay local and cannot be outsourced.
If someone has better information, please provide links that support your position.
For the record, credit must be given to the folks that created McCain's web site - it appears to have clear and concise information on his proposals addressing some our economic concerns (see http://www.johnmccain.com/Issues/JobsforAmerica/relief.htm)
J Tom,
There is no better information because if the Republicans talked about the issues they would have to tell you the truth.
On increasing income:
The Obama plan would reduce taxes for low- and moderate-income families, but raise them significantly for high-bracket taxpayers. ... By 2012, middle-income taxpayers would see their after-tax income rise by about 5 percent, or nearly $2,200 annually. Those in the top 1 percent would face a $19,000 average tax increase — a 1.5 percent reduction in after-tax income. Source Fact Check
Under Obama's plan, the TPC estimates that people (or couples) making between $37,595 and $66,354 a year would see an average savings of $1,118 on their taxes. Under McCain's plan, on the other hand, those same individuals would save $325 on average — $793 less than the average savings under Obama's plan.
The national debt, Republicans are no better:
Obama's tax plan would increase the debt by $3.5 trillion by 2018, while McCain's plan would bring about a projected $5 trillion increase in the same time frame
Now those are some facts to chew on.
I think it is sad that so many people connected with Palin last night. All I heard was a rude woman without an education: making jokes and lowering her opponent because that's all she's got. But if she appeals to the marjority then that's what the majority deserves.
H.
Do people forget it takes time for anything to take place in the United States. Everything is voted on and then placed in due process system. Many of the things that are wrong with this country started and happened 2 to 3 terms ago. Majority of the things that are happening in the United States are from the Clinton era, and all the things that Bush has done will be seen actually in the next 2 terms we are about to vote for with this new president.