Obama Launches All Out Assault In Florida

Democrat Talks About The Economy As He Begins Two Days Of Campaigning In The Sunshine State

(AP)  Barack Obama on Monday promised this state hard-hit by foreclosures that he would halt them in their tracks while updating a famous Ronald Reagan line to criticize Republican handling of the nation's deepening economic distress.

"At this rate, the question isn't just `Are you better off than you were four years ago?', it's `Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?"' the Democratic presidential nominee asked a raucous crowd here of about 8,000.

In an October, 1980, debate with incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter, Reagan asked listeners the first question amid economic malaise. He went on to oust Carter from the White House.

With just over two weeks left until Election Day, Obama set aside two full days to campaign across Florida, which twice went for Republican George Bush and now figures prominently in the Democrat's hopes for clinching the presidency.

Obama's swing was timed to coincide with Monday's opening of early voting statewide.

He brought potent weapons. His former Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has two events on her own and a joint rally with Obama on Monday evening in Orlando.

As Obama spoke on Florida's west coast, Clinton drew about 600 people to a rally on its eastern side, where she barely mentioned Obama but urged the importance of voting, especially early.

"I don't take anything for granted, and I don't want you to. I've been involved in 10 presidential elections as an adult, and Democrats have only won three of them," she said, a sudden downpour forcing her to use a black binder as an umbrella. "Do not get lulled into any false sense of security."

Obama's wife, Michelle, also is making her way through Florida, as is another former Obama rival for the Democratic nomination, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is trying to help Obama with the state's Hispanic voters.

Obama's campaign also has parked deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand in Florida, another sign of the importance of its 27 electoral votes, which could ease Obama's path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Persuading Democrats to vote now is key.

"Go early. We're going to make sure your vote is counted," Obama said, in an unmistakable reference to the disputed voting here in 2000 that landed Bush in the White House.

Obama noted that anything can happen on Election Day - cars breaking down, emergencies at work - that can keep even a determined voter from the polls. What he didn't say was that anything can happen between now and Election Day in a heated White House race, and that his campaign wants to capitalize on its current momentum.

The Florida director for Obama, Steve Schale, said as many as 40 percent of voters in the state - or 9 million people - could turn out early. The more, the better, as far as the Obama campaign is concerned. That's because the campaign has identified a total of 1 million people in two demographic categories considered ripe for Obama's message, black voters and white or Hispanic independents under age 30, who are now registered but did not vote in 2004, Schale said.

Obama was unable to reduce Republican rival John McCain's lead in Florida polls, despite far outspending and outstaffing his opponent. But since the housing crisis spread recently into a broader financial meltdown, Florida - like other key states - has started looking better for Obama.

Florida has higher unemployment than the national average and one of the nation's worst foreclosure rates. So Obama touted his plans for a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures and for giving bankruptcy judges authority to reduce the interest rates or amount owed on a mortgage for a primary home.

He planned to hammer home that message some more in a roundtable discussion on Tuesday in Lake Worth, across the state, featuring a slew of Democratic governors from states key to the election, such as Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico and Colorado.

Obama was introduced by half a dozen baseball players from the Tampa Bay Rays, who dethroned the defending champion Boston Red Sox Sunday night to clinch the American League pennant and earn a spot in the World Series.

The crowd went almost as wild for them as for Obama. "Tampa Bay! Tampa Bay!" the audience screamed as the players waved from the stage at Legend's Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

Smiling and shaking his head in amazement, Obama exchanged high-fives and bear hugs with the ebullient players.

"When you see a (Chicago) White Sox fan showing some love to the Rays, and the Rays showing some love back, you know we're on to something right here," said the Illinois senator.

He also struck back against the increasingly negative attacks aimed at him by the McCain campaign.

"It's getting so bad that even Sen. McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night. As you know, you really have to work hard to violate Gov. Palin's standards on negative campaigning," Obama said. "That's what you do when you are out of ideas, out of touch, and running out of time."

Sarah Palin did not denounce McCain's tactics, but she did say Sunday that she'd rather campaign face-to-face than use robot telephone calls, which the GOP recently unleashed against Obama in some states. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama's remarks show he "will say and do anything to get elected."

Read more about the campaign in Florida from CBS News and around the Web

[standlee5]

If you want a longer deeper recession vote for Obama''s outdated bloated govt. economic policy.

[standlee5]

Obama launches "assault" but if it was McCain spending a billion on attack ads it''d be brutal racist attack. Obama''s spending an absolute fortune on attack ads. And he has the audacity to rag on McCain about being wealthy.

[jimjus]

It is not easy to do any job after 72.

[white-marsh]

DEAR GEORGE W. BUSH,

If you would like to make 8-years of failure disappear, then do the following. Endorse Senator Barack Obama as President of the United States and as the next Commander-in-Chief. Thanks in advance.

GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!

[nailinpailin]

Obama is "...a person that you do not have to be scared of as President of the United States."- John Mccain 2008

[michaelwf01]

Colin Powell''s worst assessment for the security of this country was in the first gulf war when he was the joint chief of the armed services, just when General Schwartzkoff and his army had Sadam Hussein and his regime outflanked and defeated, he recommended to President George Herbert Walker Bush for Saddam to live and his regime to stay in power which in turn gave us a greater threat for our current President to go before the UN and with UN forces invaded Iraq for not complying with the UN resolutions to inspect for weapons of mass destruction. I personally blame Colin Powell and his judgement for the lives and the cost for having to go back to Iraq today, and I believe his assessment and judgement for endorsing Obama as a leader of this country and the free world is wrong and if elected Obama and his left wing socialist regime could be a bigger threat to the security of this country.

[nailinpailin]

"Sooner or later people are going to figure out that if all you run is negative attack ads you don''t have much of a vision for the future, or you''re not ready to articulate it." - John Mccain 2000

[slayrre007]

Let me start by saying that I voted AGAINST the idiot George W. Bush in both elections and in both elections I predicted he would lead this country to ruin. Now I will be voting for John McCain in November for many reasons...such as I would rather have a moderate Republican than a far left hardcore liberal like Obama (with a Democratic controlled Congress) running this country.

As for Barack Obama...once Barack, as Commander-In-Chief, is given our countries top military secrets... he will find a way to give the information to his "brothers" in the middle east. For anyone that doesn''t think this is possible...think again.

How soon Americans everywhere forget how unprepared we were for 9/11. Intellectually we could not accept the real danger of such an attack. Now we are unprepared to accept the real threat that the next attack to destroy America will come from within....that threat is Barack Obama.

This country has sold out common sense and intelligence in their efforts to prove that a black man can become elected President. Not measuring Barack Obama character by his association with people like Rev. Wright, Rev. Flegler, Tony Rezko, and William Ayers or organizations as corrupt as ACORN... is unforgivable.

Obama will finish the job started by the idiot we now have in office...but Barack will prove to be the catalyst to the fall of America and the ending of the American way of life.