Democrats' mistakes could still bring 'defeat': Obama
Barack Obama headed onto Republican turf yesterday bidding to seal the deal with voters 18 days from election day while warning Democrats not to forget their ability to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
The Illinois senator was en route to Virginia, which has not voted for a Democratic White House hopeful since 1964 but is now very much in play as Republican John McCain struggles to shore up his own support for November 4.
But while he is flush with cash and poll readings that hint at an election wipeout, Obama issued a clarion call against complacency following a fundraising concert here late Thursday with Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.
"Don't underestimate the capacity of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," he said, only half in jest. "Don't underestimate our ability to screw it up."
He added: "I want everybody running scared. Over the next 18 days, other than your family and your job, I want you to make a decision that there is nothing more important than bringing about this change that we need."
The Obama campaign hammered McCain Friday with a new television spot savaging his plans to raise taxes on health care benefits and, allegedly, to slash spending on Medicare insurance for seniors.
The Washington Post newspaper endorsed the Democrat in a gushing editorial, saying he "has the potential to become a great president," despite his "relatively brief experience in national politics."
"The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate (Alaska Governor Sarah Palin) who is not ready to be president," the newspaper said.
Meanwhile McCain, who was headed Friday to the retirement haven of Florida, is pinning his hopes for a late comeback on "Joe the Plumber," the unlikely workaday hero of his final presidential debate with Obama on Wednesday.
The Arizona senator is banking that the low-tax mantra espoused by Ohio tradesman Joe Wurzelbacher, 34, in a chance encounter with Obama this week will resonate with voters at a time of economic crisis.
In his own hard-hitting campaign spot released Thursday, McCain's camp used footage of Obama's meeting with Wurzelbacher in Toledo, Ohio, and his rival's comment that he wanted to "spread the wealth around."
"Obama's not truthful on taxes," the ad said, accusing the Illinois senator of hiding plans to take more from all Americans, including small businessmen.
Obama says that only individuals making over 200,000 dollars and families making more than a quarter of a million will face higher taxes if he is president, and most middle-class people will pay less.
After becoming a metaphor for working-class Americans in the debate, and seeing his name repeatedly invoked by McCain, Wurzelbacher is finding that media attention cuts both ways.
The Toledo Blade newspaper reported that he was not registered as a plumber in Ohio at all. There was another report that Wurzelbacher was behind on his taxes. On ABC, he admitted he earned nowhere near 250,000 dollars. And The New York Times revealed his full name was actually Samuel J. Wurzelbacher.
The presidential candidates returned to the campaign trail after a rare bout of levity late Thursday at a white-tie dinner in New York to raise funds for underprivileged children.
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