WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama painted Republican presidential nominee John McCain as out of touch with the daily struggles of ordinary people, while his running mate Joe Biden prepared to take on a more prominent role in attacking his old friend and rival in hopes of stopping McCain’s advance in the polls.
Part of Biden’s appeal as a running mate is his comfort in debating opponents and tearing them down. Biden is “the vice presidential nominee you want slugging it out in the late innings when proven campaign skills, intestinal fortitude, expertise and experience matter most,” Biden spokesman David Wade said Saturday.
McCain has enjoyed a marked surge in the polls following his surprise choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice president, despite criticism from Democrats that the 44-year-old mother of five is not qualified for the job.
Obama has called Palin a “phenomenon” and acknowledged she has given the Republican ticket a boost.
But his aides say McCain is vulnerable to new criticisms because he has stretched the truth in recent comments and ads, and because Palin was shaky on foreign policy in a recent interview with ABC News.
The intensifying criticism follow several ads from the McCain campaign, one which said Obama favored comprehensive sex education for kindergarten students and another that suggested Obama had called Palin a pig. Both are factually inaccurate.
But Obama had to tone down his own counterattack Saturday because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in Texas.
Meanwhile, a campaign spokesman said yesterday that Obama raised a record $66 million in August. Obama’s spokesman Bill Burton said the August figure was helped by 500,000 new donors.
