McCain warns against Democratic takeover

Steve Holland, Reuters

Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008

ALBUQUERQUE (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Saturday raised the prospect of a complete Democratic takeover of Washington as a reason to elect him over Democrat Barack Obama in 10 days.

McCain, struggling to defend New Mexico and other Western states that typically vote Republican from falling for Obama on November 4, used the argument to try to change a gloomy election picture.

Obama holds a commanding lead in national opinion polls and leading in several key battleground states that McCain needs to win. In a text of remarks he was to deliver later in Reno, Nevada, Obama hammers McCain as little different than President George W. Bush

View Larger Image

Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain, with his wife Cindy behind him, waves to the crowd at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado October 24, 2008. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Email to a friendPrinter friendly

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

At an Albuquerque rally, McCain accused the Illinois senator of seeking to raise taxes on most Americans, particularly small businesses responsible for much of the hiring during a severe economic downturn in which hundreds of thousands of jobs have been shed.

Obama says his plan to tax Americans making more than $250,000 would allow a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans.

McCain said having Democrats in control of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Senate under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, would give Democrats unfettered power.

Riding Americans' desire for a change from the Bush administration, Democrats appear poised to make major gains in the House and Senate.

"Senator Obama's tax increase would put even more people out of work," McCain said. "We've seen this before in other countries. It doesn't work. The answer to a strong economy is not higher taxes."

"But that is exactly what's going to happen if the Democrats have total control of Washington. We can't let that happen. Are you ready for Obama, Pelosi and Reid?" the Arizona senator said.

OBAMA CAMPAIGNING IN THE WEST

Obama was returning to active campaigning after taking a break to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. Dead in his sights were the Western states McCain needs: Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

He had rallies scheduled in Reno and Las Vegas in Nevada, Albuquerque and the Colorado cities of Denver and Fort Collins.

"Senator McCain has been throwing everything he's got at us, hoping something will stick. He's even called me a socialist for suggesting that we focus on tax cuts, not for corporations and the wealthy, but for the middle class," Obama planned to say.

Pointing to Bush's vote for McCain in an early ballot on Friday, he said, "That's no surprise, because when it comes to the policies that matter for middle class families, there's not an inch of daylight between George Bush and John McCain."

Obama's campaign released a two-minute television ad that asks the question whether Americans are better off economically than they were four years ago.

In the ad, Obama says he will "launch a rescue plan for the middle class" with 95 percent of Americans getting a tax cut.