McCain Slams Rivals Over Spending
From CBS News' Andante Higgins:
BURLINGTON, VT. – Just a few hours before John McCain will receive the endorsement of his former rival Mitt Romney, the Arizona senator slammed the Democratic contenders for their pork barrel spending.
"The senator from New York, Senator Clinton, had gotten $342 million worth of earmarked, pork barrel projects. The senator from Illinois, because he is junior had only gotten about $92 million according to that article," McCain said, citing a piece in today's Washington Post.
"And the senator from Illinois, who says that he wants transparency in government, will not reveal the number of earmarks that he received in 2006 and 2005. Is that transparency in government? I don't think so. I don't think so!" The crowd cheered and applauded, as McCain continued: "So I call on the senator, Senator Obama from Illinois, to go ahead and tell people how much money in earmarked projects and pork barrel projects that he got for his state and what they were for. And my friends, examine my record on pork barrel projects and you will see a big fat zero."
Meantime, McCain talked about an agreement he made with Obama regarding general election campaign funds saying, "We had an agreement-as i recall-- months ago--that if he were the candidate and i was the candidate we would both accept public funding for the general election and that still holds."
Each candidate would receive $85 million in public funds which would cover their campaign's expenses. In return, they would not be able to raise private funds for the general election - basically putting McCain and Obama, if he is the Democratic nominee, on a level playing field this fall.
McCain has been focusing recently on Obama but he says it doesn't mean he's counting Hillary Clinton out.
"I remember the night before New Hampshire she was going to lose, I mean that was just a fact and everybody accepted it. I even drank that Kool-Aid, I thought that Senator Obama was going to win that," he said.
"She out worked and out campaigned and won that. So I think it would be really a mistake to sort of discount the vitality of her candidacy. I am not an expert on this. I know she's very very smart, very very tough campaigner."