Obama Says Candidates "Promise You Anything" at Election Time
PITTSBURGH -- Barack Obama continued to mock Hillary Clinton this morning, sarcastically accusing her of pandering to voters. "Around election time, the candidates can't do enough for you. They'll promise you anything, give you a long list of proposals and even come around with TV crews in tow, to throw back a shot and a beer," Obama said at a steelworkers forum here.
"But if those same candidates are taking millions of dollars in contributions from the PACs and lobbyists, ask yourself, who are they going to be toasting once the election is over?"
Over the weekend, Clinton visited a restaurant in Indiana and had a couple of drinks with voters.
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer hit back in a written statement, "With all due respect, this is the same politician who spent six days posing for clichéd camera shots that included bowling gutterballs, walking around a sports bar, feeding a baby cow, and buying a ham at the Philly market (albeit one that cost $99.99 a pound). Sen. Obama's speeches won't hide his condescending views of Americans living in small towns."
Although he once again admitted to having misspoken at a San Francisco fund-raiser last week when talking about small town voters, Obama dismissed his rivals' argument that he is out of touch.
"Now it may be that I chose my words badly. Isn't the first time and it won't be the last," Obama said. "But when I hear my opponents, both of whom have spent decades in Washington, saying I'm out of touch, it's time to cut through their rhetoric and look at the reality."
Obama has focused heavily on working-class voters in Pennsylvania, touting his record on trade and his work with unions. Today, he said he will defend workers' rights when negotiating trade deals and will work to reform existing trade deals such as NAFTA and the China Trade Agreement. Obama accused President Bush of being a "patsy" when it comes to bargaining with China.
"The problem is for all the tough talk of George W. Bush, he is a patsy when it comes to negotiating these agreements", Obama said, "What we need to do is be better bargainers."