So, we're now 10 days away from the election. McCain still believes that he has a shot at wi0nning 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: “I'm going to win it”. Obama, in the meantime, scoffed at that idea, claiming that his GOP rival is “running out of time”. Of course, in these dying days, Obama was flanked by about 100000 adoring fans.
Unfortunately for McCain, some members of his own party agree with Obama that McCain is quickly running out of time. According to Sen. Jon Kyle, McCain's fellow Arizona senator, “Unfortunately, I think (that) John McCai0n might be added to the long list of Arizonans who ran for president, but were never elected”. Hey, this fits McCain's image/reputation as a maverick. The only difference is that Kyle doesn't agree with McCain.
Meanwhile, Obama continued to hammer away at McCain, repeating that “For eight years, we've seen the Bush-McCain philosophy put our country on the wrong track and we cannot have another four years that look just like the last eight”. This is yet another response to McCain's scornful remark in the final presidential debate that “I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago”.
McCain meanwhile played the fear factor again, first accusing Obama of acting like a dictator: “He's measuring the drapes…I prefer to let voters have their say. What America needs now is someone who will finish the race before starting the victory lap”. Is McCain seriously going positive? If we look at this statement, it doesn't sound very positive.
Next, a t a rally with 5000 people in attendance in Zanesville, Ohio, McCain once again depicted Obama as a tax-spending liberal: “You can imagine (President) Obama, (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid and (Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi. Tax and spend”. Again, this isn't true. Under Obama's tax plan, 95% of people will get tax deductions/cuts.
Obama's campaign responded with fresh commercials in battleground states that depicted McCain as a man with “no plan to lift our economy up” and using “scare tactics and smears”. It also depicts McCain as someone who is “running out of ideas” and is “out of touch”. Remember the question about how many houses/properties McCain owns? He couldn't answer that question while most people are drowning in debt trying to keep up with their mortgage payments.
On top of everything else, McCain continues to defend running mate Sarah Palin: “I don't defend her. I praise her. She is exactly what Washington needs”. There was a report out earlier that Palin was a liability and dragging McCain down. Obviously, McCain doesn't see it that way. Otherwise, he certainly would not have chosen Palin on such short notice (the Friday before the GOP convention) that even made conservative Republicans (the faction to which McCain belongs) scratch their heads and perhaps cringe.
Then, McCain again tried to evade Bush: “The fact is I am not George Bush. Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course”. This reinforces how desperate McCain is just 10 days away from perhaps the most monumental election of our lives. Otherwise, why is he repeatedly distancing himself from Bush?
Obama pounced on that comment like Jason Kidd going for a steal against Denver Nuggets' guard Allen Iverson: “I guess that's John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a lot in common”.
Obama continued: “We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch onto John McCain”. In other words, Obama will, in all likelihood, 'intercept' the White House from McCain.
