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Presidential candidate Barack Obama (center), former Gov. Mark Warner (left) and Gov. Tim Kaine wave to the crowd.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama greets supporters after a rally at the Richmond Coliseum. |
RICHMOND
--With 13 days left before Election Day, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama returned to battleground-state Virginia, telling a crowd of 13,000 in Richmond's Coliseum that people want real economic change, not negative campaigning."John McCain's doing his best to change the subject. He's been on the attack. That's what you do when you're out of ideas, you're out of touch and you're running out of time," Obama said. "You don't want to hear about politicians attacking each other. You want to hear about how we're going to attack the challenges facing us."
Obama, whom polls yesterday showed to be just a few points ahead of Republican John McCain in Virginia, is trying to win the long-time red state, which hasn't gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
"It is good to be back in Richmond. It's good to be back in Virginia," he told the cheering crowd, who had waited in line for hours to get in. Some 7,000 were left outside; Obama went out to talk to them briefly before his speech.
He urged the crowd to help with the final days of the campaign, to make phone calls and knock on doors and work to get voters to the polls.
Obama criticized the "slash and burn" politics of negative ads and divisive campaigning that he said are contrary to a unity needed during a crisis such as the economic problems the country is facing.
"There are no real parts of the country and fake parts of the country," Obama said, referencing a McCain aide's comment this week on "real Virginia" being different from Northern Virginia. "There are no pro-America parts of the country and anti-American parts of the country. We're all together."
He told the crowd that change "won't come easy. It won't come quick. Bush has dug a deep hole."
Obama said change will also take sacrifice and more effort on the part of Americans.
"I will put more money in education. But I can't be a parent and turn off that TV set and make sure your kids do their homework," he said.
Much of Obama's speech focused on the economy; he said while the bailout of financial institutions was necessary, what is really needed to improve the economy is a similar package for working people.
"We need an immediate rescue plan for the middle class," Obama said.
He said he would give tax credits for companies that create new jobs in America and end credits for those that outsource jobs to other countries. He advocates eliminating the capital gains tax on some businesses and wants a three-month moratorium on home foreclosures "so we give homeowners the breathing room they need to get back on their feet."
Obama said he is advocating tax cuts that will benefit people making less than $250,000 a year--he asked the crowd to raise their hands if they make less than that, and it seemed most hands were up.
"I think everybody here looks like they're pretty safe," he said.
He said he himself doesn't need a tax cut, but that "the nurse and the teacher and the bus driver and the janitor" do.
"John McCain calls that socialism," Obama said, adding that a few years ago, McCain said the Bush tax cuts that Obama wants to roll back were irresponsible.
"He was right then. And I'm right now," Obama said.
He also mentioned the now-famous "Joe the Plumber," a man who had questioned Obama about taxes on businesses and whom McCain adopted as a symbol of a businessman who would be hurt by Obama's tax proposals. Obama said McCain wants tax cuts for the rich, not the middle-class, and that "trickle-down" economics don't work.
"[McCain] is not fighting for Joe the Plumber. He's fighting for Joe the hedge fund manager," Obama said. "He's in cahoots with Joe the CEO. For the last eight years, we have tried it John McCain's way. It's time to try something new."
Obama also talked about pushing for renewable energy, more fuel-efficient cars, extending broadband internet access to rural areas and creating jobs by improving the nation's infrastructure.
"If we can spend $10 billion a month in Iraq, we can spend some money rebuilding America," he said.
Obama was joined by Gov. Tim Kaine, an early supporter of his, and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner, a former Virginia governor.
Kaine said afterward that the closeness of the polls means "this thing is a dead heat and there's no letting up until the polls close."
He told the crowd that in a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in so long, they should consider themselves the underdog and work as such until the end.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
