This is it. McCain insisting that our country is strong today, married to Gramm's 'whiners' comments... this is the final theme of the final push. "It's the economy, stupid" has come full circle and will win us the White House again.
Obama Relentless on the EconomyThe Land of Lincolner keeps up pressure on McCain for saying the “fundamentals” of the U.S. economy are strong Monday, invokes former economic adviser Phil Gramm.
Says at an event in Pueblo, Colorado: “We know you meant what you said the first time because you’ve said it before.”
“And your chief economic advisor – the man who wrote your economic plan – said that we’re in a ‘mental recession;’ that this is all in our heads; that we’re a nation of whiners.”
Biden emerges as pitbull - tears into McCain“My dad used to have an expression: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value,” Biden said. “By that measure, John McCain doesn’t stand with the middle class. He stands with George Bush firmly in the corner of the wealthy and well-connected. He stands with the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, who, while testifying before my Senate judiciary committee swore to me under oath that Exxon-Mobil didn’t need the tax breaks they’d been given to explore for oil.”
Obama's Economic OpeningThat's why today's economic crisis is such a godsend for Obama. This morning, McCain told rallygoers Jacksonville, Fla., that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Noting how starkly McCain's message clashed with the bleak news from Wall Street, delighted Democrats immediately seized on his slip as evidence (along with his inability to remember how many houses he owns and his statement that only those who make over $5 million are rich) as evidence that the Republican nominee "out of touch" with the economic concerns of average Americans. "Apparently his 26 years in Washington have left him incapable of understanding that the policies he supports have created an historic economic crisis," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "This is someone who's going to defend the Bush economic policies all the way until November," added Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. In St. Claire Shores, Mich.; and Grand Junction, Colo., Biden and Obama both called McCain a dishonorable Bush clone as planned. But given the day's headlines, it's now their remarks on McCain and the economy that are making waves in newsrooms across the country.
"It’s not that I think John McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of most Americans," Obama said. "I just think doesn’t know. He doesn’t get what’s happening ... Senator--what economy are you talking about? What’s more fundamental than the ability to find a job that pays the bills and can raise a family? What’s more fundamental than knowing that your life savings is secure, and that you can retire with dignity? What’s more fundamental than knowing that you’ll have a roof over your head at the end of the day? What’s more fundamental than that? The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great--that promise that America is the place where you can make it if you try."
Reid, Pelosi Slam "Bush-McCain Economic Policies""What we are seeing on Wall Street is the legacy of the Bush-McCain economic policies that have failed this nation," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement.
"Failing to police lenders and neglecting to protect consumers ushered in the subprime crisis that has brought the American economy and Wall Street to their knees. This 'anything goes' approach to governing has resulted in lost jobs and carries an enormous price tag for the American taxpayer."
UPDATE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also weighs in on who is to blame and not-so-surprisingly, it isn't the Democrats.
"Eight years of weakened regulation of our nation's financial system -- including a failure to regulate risky, and often predatory, lending practices -- by the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress have led us to this point, and could further erode our nation's economic health," Pelosi said in a statement.