From The Road
October 28, 2008 7:59 PM

Palin Suggests Obama Is A Socialist

By
Scott Conroy
Topics
Sarah Palin
(CBS)
From CBS News' Scott Conroy:

(SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.) Sarah Palin issued a scathing new line of attack on Barack Obama's tax plan at a rally here, citing an interview he gave as an Illinois state senator in 2001 as evidence that he favors socialist policies that fly in the face of the Constitution.

"It was just the other day that a tape of an interview from 2001 turned up, and there he was talking about the need for quote 'redistributive change,'" Palin said. "And Sen. Obama said that—he said that he regretted--he regretted that the Supreme Court hadn't been more radical and he described the court's refusal to take up the issues of redistribution of wealth as a tragedy and he said that he also regretted that the Supreme Court did not break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers there in the Constitution, that's a quote."

Palin said that voters have to ask themselves whether Obama—a former Constitutional law professor—would like to rewrite the Constitution and questioned what kinds of Supreme Court justices he would appoint.

"Our opponent's ideological commitment to spread the wealth around—taking more from you—spreading it around, it's been tried in other societies, friends," Palin said. "And the only things that ever spread were scarcity and poverty and bureaucracy and stifling the entrepreneurial spirit that made this country the greatest country on earth."

Palin next accused Obama of wanting judges to confiscate people's property.

"And let me remind Barack Obama of something else. When judges don't confiscate your property and your hard m-- all of your hard earned money and then redistribute that, he may call that a tragedy, but I call it fairness and adherence to our U.S. Constitution," she said.

Asked whether Palin was suggesting that Obama favors economic policies similar to those of Communist countries, Palin's traveling press secretary Tracey Schmitt wrote in an email message, "No she said what she said."
  • Scott Conroy

    Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.

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