Obama: McCain Will Close With Attacks

Democrat Says Rival Chose To Abandon High Road Of Past Campaigns; McCain Presses For Votes In Ohio

(CBS/ AP)  Democrat Barack Obama told supporters Friday to expect rival John McCain's campaign to end in a crescendo of attacks on him. "More of the slash and burn, say-anything, do-anything politics that's calculated to divide and distract; to tear us apart instead of bringing us together," Obama told 25,000 in Des Moines, Iowa, the state where his campaign took off with a caucus win Jan. 3.

The Illinois senator said he admired a presidential candidate who said in 2000, "I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land."

"Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain," Obama said. "But the high road didn't lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route."

McCain was spending a second straight day touring economically ailing Ohio, a swing state with 20 electoral votes that McCain aides acknowledge is central to a victory on Tuesday. McCain was behind Obama in polls in the state.

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Read the latest news from the campaign in Ohio from CBS News and around the Web

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In Ohio's hard-pressed southeast, McCain whipped up a crowd of several thousand at the county courthouse in Steubenville, telling them, "You're going to be the battleground state again. You're going to be the one who decides. I need Ohio and I need you."

The candidate was running about an hour behind schedule but said waiting supporters bucked him up with their "enthusiasm."

"I know momentum and we've got it now in Ohio," McCain said.

In what could be a final ignominy for McCain, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the campaign would begin airing ads in Arizona, a state McCain has represented in Congress for 26 years. Plouffe said the race has tightened in Arizona, Georgia and North Dakota, and that the campaign was mounting ads in all three states. A recent poll from McCain's home state showed the two candidates in a statistical dead heat. (Read more in Horserace)

In a slew of states, "the die is being cast as we speak," he said. "Sen. McCain on Election Day is not just going to have to carry the day, but carry it convincingly."

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis derided Obama's moves: "We encourage them to pick other states that we intend to win" to spend their money.

The combined efforts of the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have been closing the advertising advantage that Obama has enjoyed since the two party conventions this summer. Davis said Friday that the latest push of McCain and party advertising will exceed Obama's spending in the final days of the campaign.

McCain pollster Bill McInturff also sounded an optimistic note, saying his surveys show Obama's support fading and McCain's increasing.

"We've shaken off the affects of the financial collapse," Davis said, blaming harsh news about the economy for Obama's leads in the polls.

While the Obama campaign continued to tie McCain to the unpopular President Bush, McCain assailed Obama's economic policies as recipes from the far left of American politics.

Earlier Friday, McCain told a rally in Hanoverton, Ohio, that Obama "began his campaign in the liberal left lane of politics and has never left it. He's more liberal than a senator who calls himself a socialist," a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont.

Campaigning with McCain was former GOP rival and one-time New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who told the crowd, "John McCain was right about the single most important decision that had to be made in the last four years and that was to stick it out in Iraq."

McCain began the day with an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," saying, "Sen. Obama's economic policy is from the far left of American politics and ours is in the center," McCain said. "He wants to raise people's taxes - that's clear."

Obama is proposing tax increases on families making over $250,000 and individuals making over $200,000 and tax cuts for the 95 percent of workers making less than $200,000.

In an interview with The Columbus Dispatch published Friday, Schwarzenegger made no effort to disguise the challenge facing McCain He told the newspaper it will be a "major struggle for him to win."

But, he added: "I have seen him in those major struggles in the past when he has come back when everyone counted him out," Schwarzenegger said. "During the primaries, he came back and got nominated."

Privately, McCain's aides said their man trailed Obama by 4 points nationwide in internal polling.

The latest CBS News/New York Times poll, released yesterday showed Obama ahead 52 percent to 41 percent.

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Obama was to spend the day campaigning across the Midwest, with a quick stop home in Chicago to see his daughters on Halloween.

The Obama campaign plans to air two ads in Georgia and North Dakota - a tandem of positive and negative commercials.

One ties McCain to President Bush, showing a man adjusting a review mirror in a car as an announcer says: Wonder where John McCain would take the economy? Look behind you, John McCain wants to continue George Bush's economic policies."

The other relies on Obama's message of "unity over division" and reminds viewers that Obama has been endorsed by mega-financier Warren Buffett and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Plouffe said that in deference to McCain, the campaign would only run the positive ad in Arizona.

"It's Sen. McCain's home state," Plouffe said. "We're cognizant of that."

[cookie241]

Ignorant people are not informed enough to know when someone else is ignorant. Individual political opinions are not worth anything if they are not backed by actual research and investigation into a particular issue. Accepting everything that the media says as true is ignorant in itself.

[standlee5]

obama/pelosi/reid will continue the corrupt Democrat machine bringning back the wealthy 60s union bosses just like Chicago mafioso. We''re returning to the pat with these three.

[standlee5]

Waaaaaaaaa Waaaaaaaaaa. The big bad white McCain is attacking me. Waaaaaaaa Waaaaaaa.

[birdyspice7]

You''re right neocon. Relatives and what they do is very important to this campaign, you know. Like when Sarah Palin abused her power as Governor to try to get her brother in law fired for not wanting to be with her sister anymore. She even tried to get him in trouble for shooting a mosse that she helped to eat herself. What kind of Jerry Springer people are they? If her parents are teachers, then why doesn''t Sarah know anything about the consitution? Why does she still not know what the VP does or what the 1st amendment says? Something must be wrong with these "teachers" for having such a dumb daughter. And who is this Todd Palin? Why is this guy who barely has a high school education included in Gov''t affairs? Why is he illegally trying to get people fired? Why does he have so much power? Why wasn''t he at home making sure his daughter wasn''t getting pregnant by the high school dropout Levi Johnston?

And what about Cindy McCain who claims to be an only child when she has two half sisters? Her father cruelly left one of his will because of Cindy''s mother and cindy wouldn''t give her a dime of the fortune. Wow... she is as cold as ice. And she got arrested in 1999 for stealing from her charity to feed her drug habit but McCain got her off by pulling in some favors.. Oh yeah.. and McCain was cheating on his first wife all the time because she wasn''t as pretty after her car accident. he dumped her for Cindy because cindy was rich and 18 years younger.

Yes.. family matters.

[birdyspice7]

yup.. mccain and plain are like a boxer that is getting beat flailing his arms erratically on his way down hoping for one to connect.

[bjcone8559]

In these closing days of the election we are faced with a desperate republican candidate. We can expect the most vile, venomous, dishonest attacks imaginable. I, personally, am curious. What more could the ''Evil Ones'' call Senator Obama? We have already heard ''elite'', ''celebrity'', ''socialist'', ''communist''.. what''s next, ''space alien''???

[cheteunice]

joe68sg1, Obama stutters everytime he is asked a question. Trying to tink of a lie before he answers?

McCaine''s true morals

mccheater.com

[wogerwabbit]

Posted by neocon9 at 08:43 AM : Nov 01, 2008

your name alone makes everything you say suspicious

[9SLING]

I LOVE HOW ONLY ONE MAJOR MEDIA OUTLET MENTIONS THAT OBAMA''S AUNT IS DISCOVERED TO BE LIVING IN THE U.S. ON SUBSIDIZED HOUSING (TAX DOLLARS)ILLEGALLY. WAKE UP PEOPLE... THE RED FLAGS HAVE BEEN SHOVED IN YOUR FACES. HIS BROTHER LIVES IN A BOX. I''m not saying we should vote based on who one''s family is. But voting on how one treats and interacts with ones family is 100% legit. The Aunt and the brother are two people Obama mentions in his book as having a powerful influence on his life. Why then are these people living in BOXES and Govt projects illegally???!!! If you vote for Obama, you are painfully ignorant or dying to see America turn into a $#1thole or so proud you can''t admit the Dems picked an arrogant, lazy, ignorant, selfish wimp. Obama''s probably going to be our man because America got too young and too stupid.

[ggm1957]

Our country needs Obama to get things on the right track. Vote for Obama!!!

[freedom_2008]

McCain only has old worn out ideas to offer. No amount of attack ads or money can help him out now. The country is ready for a change.

[ggm1957]

Obama doesn''t deserve the attacks, but will handle them well. Obama has taken the high road in this campaign whereas McCain and Palin have been in the gutter. McCain/Palin would be a duo to be ashamed of - neither should be in the White House. McCain''s war record does not make him qualified for presidency. McCain showed the love he has for this country by his choice of VP. VOTE FOR OBAMA!!! - the only sensible choice. I already voted for Obama.

[guerino4]

PAY ATTENTION EVERYBODY
go see that video at this adress
http://www.reopen911.info/video/hacking-democracy.html

This is a reporting concerning the automatic voting machine. The web site is french but the reporting is in english and please share this adress as much as you can because the biggest problem is that peoples forget. Be aware when you go to the poll.

FOR A REAL DEMOCRATY

[cbscommenter]

Obama deserves the attacks, because he is the most evasive candidate we''ve ever had for the highest office in the world!

[cbscommenter]

Obama deserves the "attacks"... He is the most inexperienced and unknown candidate we''ve had in our lifetime!

[ajmarine111]

He has poor judgment; he selected for VP an ignorant woman who has no experience and is of low intelligence. She is demonstrably unfit to move into the presidency when he McCain dies, which could be any day.




Posted by farouk7 at 11:44 PM : Oct 31, 2008


If Obama is qualified, Sarah is qualified.

[spinproof]

If McCain wins he will bring back the draft and go after Iran for Israel, the U.S. will be in endless wars for 100 more years like McCain promised. McCain does not have an economic Policy because McCain''s economic Policy is to give Americans jobs fighting in his wars and continuing the wars Bush started. McWar!

[joe68sg1]

Well said farouk7

[troutfisher4]

Agreed. McCain demonstrated extremely poor judgment during the campaign.

Posted by troutfisher4 at 11:12 PM : Oct 31, 2008
_____________________

His most egregious example of poor judgment was his selection of Palin for VP. At least 7 top Republicans have repudiated her within the last week.

Posted by farouk7



Yes indeed. Clearly she is not qualified for either VP or P. A big mistake.