Obama itches for a fight with McCain
Posted by Scott Helman, Political Reporter February 4, 2008 06:52 PM
HARTFORD -- Super Tuesday hasn't even dawned yet, but Mitt Romney's sun has set, if you listen to Barack Obama. Nary a day goes by now where Obama doesn't take aim at the man he expects to face in November: John McCain, war hero, long-time Arizona senator, and magnet for independent voters. Obama continued his assault today, criticizing McCain on CNN and at campaign stops on the East Coast.
On CNN this afternoon, Obama said he honored McCain's "half a century of service to this country, and I think that it’s something that we have to all honor, because he's been a war hero and I think he's done good work in the Senate." But, Obama said, McCain "is not the person who is going to lead this country in a new direction." "He is wrong on foreign policy. He is wrong on economics. He essentially wants to perpetuate the same failed economic strategies of George Bush by providing tax cuts to the wealthy as opposed to working families who need relief," Obama was quoted as saying. "He wants to continue the failed foreign policy of leaving our troops in Iraq ... That is not what the American people are looking for."
Addressing more than 16,000 people here in Hartford's XL Center this afternoon, Obama amended his primary argument against Hillary Clinton -- he represents the future, she represents the past -- to target McCain. "I like that match-up. I'm happy to have a debate about the future of this country," Obama said. "We need a clear-cut contrast" between the politics of the past and the politics of the future, he said. But it's an argument Obama, 46, has make artfully against McCain, 71, in the general election if they face off. Done the wrong way, Obama could be accused of ageism. Of course, McCain's retort would likely be that Obama was only a kid while he was being tortured in Vietnam.
UPDATE: McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker responds, saying an Obama presidency would make the country "less safe." "Senator McCain will enhance the security, opportunity, and freedom Americans need to pursue their dreams and values," she said in a statement. "Senator Obama will make them less safe, tax their opportunities, and build a bigger government that will burden their dreams and overrule their values
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/02/obama_itches_fo.html