ASHEVILLE, N.C., Oct 5 (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama counterattacked on Sunday against a new Republican tactic by saying rival John McCain was more interested in a smear campaign than fixing the U.S. economy.
With McCain losing ground in opinion polls, a campaign strategist was quoted as saying the Republican presidential candidate needed to 'turn the page' on the economic issue and make the election about Obama's experience and character.
That effort started on Saturday when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Obama of 'palling around with terrorists' in reference to his acquaintance with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Vietnam War-era militant Weather Underground.
Obama came back at the Republicans at a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, a swing state where the Democratic presidential candidate was preparing for his second debate with McCain on Tuesday.
'Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance,' Obama said in prepared remarks. 'They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up.'
'It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas and running out of time,' he said a month before the Nov. 4 election.
Obama's improvement in the polls was fueled by the public's perception that he can best handle the ailing economy. The Illinois senator tried to keep the focus on the economy and used the 'turn the page' quote as a way of keeping the issue alive.
'We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and John McCain wants us to 'turn the page?'' he said in the Asheville remarks.
'Well, I know the policies he's supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend. I can understand why Senator McCain would want to 'turn the page' and ignore this economy.'
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The Obama campaign released a new ad hitting McCain as erratic during the past two weeks of economic crisis, a reference that could be interpreted as subtle reminder of McCain's age. The Arizona senator, age 72, would be the oldest person elected president for the first time.
But McCain's supporters were not backing down. They pushed the issue of Obama's character on the Sunday television talk show circuit and defended linking Obama with Ayers.
Ayers was one of the leaders of the Weather Underground when it was involved in a series of bombings in the 1960s when Obama was 8 years old. Obama met him in the 1990s when first starting his political career in Chicago and the two served on a board together.
Obama has said he knows Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, only slightly and has denounced his actions with the Weather Underground.
Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida said on ABC's 'This Week' it was not what Obama did when he was 8 but 'what occurred when he was 35 - 38 years old and was initiating his political campaign.'
'It's about his judgment and who he associated with during those years and right on into his political campaign,' he said.
'It is fair game,' Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who supports McCain, said on 'Fox News Sunday' when asked if it was legitimate to bring up Ayers.
But Democrats responded that the Republicans were just trying to trivialize the race and take the spotlight off McCain and the economy.'
'How ridiculous,' Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said on Fox. 'American people deserve so much better.'
'You have seen a 26-year Senate veteran morph into an angry, desperate candidate in the last few weeks, especially in the last few days,' Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio told ABC. 'And it just kind of makes me sad ... that John McCain and Sarah Palin are resorting to these tactics.'
(Writing by David Wiessler; editing by Jackie Frank)
((For full campaign coverage double click on [US/VOTE])) Keywords: USA POLITICS/ tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com vjt COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
With McCain losing ground in opinion polls, a campaign strategist was quoted as saying the Republican presidential candidate needed to 'turn the page' on the economic issue and make the election about Obama's experience and character.
That effort started on Saturday when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Obama of 'palling around with terrorists' in reference to his acquaintance with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Vietnam War-era militant Weather Underground.
Obama came back at the Republicans at a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, a swing state where the Democratic presidential candidate was preparing for his second debate with McCain on Tuesday.
'Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance,' Obama said in prepared remarks. 'They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up.'
'It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas and running out of time,' he said a month before the Nov. 4 election.
Obama's improvement in the polls was fueled by the public's perception that he can best handle the ailing economy. The Illinois senator tried to keep the focus on the economy and used the 'turn the page' quote as a way of keeping the issue alive.
'We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and John McCain wants us to 'turn the page?'' he said in the Asheville remarks.
'Well, I know the policies he's supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend. I can understand why Senator McCain would want to 'turn the page' and ignore this economy.'
NEW ADS
The Obama campaign released a new ad hitting McCain as erratic during the past two weeks of economic crisis, a reference that could be interpreted as subtle reminder of McCain's age. The Arizona senator, age 72, would be the oldest person elected president for the first time.
But McCain's supporters were not backing down. They pushed the issue of Obama's character on the Sunday television talk show circuit and defended linking Obama with Ayers.
Ayers was one of the leaders of the Weather Underground when it was involved in a series of bombings in the 1960s when Obama was 8 years old. Obama met him in the 1990s when first starting his political career in Chicago and the two served on a board together.
Obama has said he knows Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, only slightly and has denounced his actions with the Weather Underground.
Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida said on ABC's 'This Week' it was not what Obama did when he was 8 but 'what occurred when he was 35 - 38 years old and was initiating his political campaign.'
'It's about his judgment and who he associated with during those years and right on into his political campaign,' he said.
'It is fair game,' Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who supports McCain, said on 'Fox News Sunday' when asked if it was legitimate to bring up Ayers.
But Democrats responded that the Republicans were just trying to trivialize the race and take the spotlight off McCain and the economy.'
'How ridiculous,' Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said on Fox. 'American people deserve so much better.'
'You have seen a 26-year Senate veteran morph into an angry, desperate candidate in the last few weeks, especially in the last few days,' Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio told ABC. 'And it just kind of makes me sad ... that John McCain and Sarah Palin are resorting to these tactics.'
(Writing by David Wiessler; editing by Jackie Frank)
((For full campaign coverage double click on [US/VOTE])) Keywords: USA POLITICS/ tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com vjt COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.