Obama Focuses on McCain, Ignores Clinton

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Obama Focuses on McCain, Ignores Clinton

May 09, 2008 1:53 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: In a clear break from taking on two opponents to just one, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Friday launched a point by point breakdown of his differences with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in his first public campaign event since the full results of Tuesday’s primaries.

Absent from his prepared remarks were any mention of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Rather, Obama spent his time differentiating himself from McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee -- another signal Obama is quickly shifting gears toward his general election strategy.

“Senator McCain is running for President to double down on George Bush’s failed policies. I am running to change them, and that will be the fundamental difference in this election when I am the Democratic nominee for President," Obama said at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon.

"There will be real differences on the ballot in November."

Obama outlined three areas where he differs with McCain: the economy, health care and gas prices.

Obama said that McCain was “dead wrong” when he said the economy had made “great process” under President Bush, and focused on McCain’s stance on tax cuts, which he paints as a flip flop.

“I admired Senator McCain when he said he could not 'in good conscience' support the Bush tax cuts. But now, as the Republican nominee, he’s fully embraced them," Obama said.

On health care, Obama continued connecting McCain to Bush, “John McCain wants to continue a George Bush approach that only takes care of the healthy and the wealthy; that allows insurance companies to discriminate and deny coverage to those Americans who need it most. This is exactly the kind of approach that has left out tens of millions of Americans.”

Launching into his critique of the gas tax holiday -- which he and Clinton exchanged barbs over in the lead up to the Indiana and North Carolina primaries -- Obama left out his democratic opponent in his criticisms this time.

“This is a classic Washington fix that’s more about getting John McCain through an election than solving your problems,” he said of the gas tax holiday plan, which both McCain and Clinton support.

Obama took questions from white collar workers at the Vernier Software & Technology Company after his opening statements.

The first question asked about the differences between his and Clinton’s health care plan.

Obama said it was a “great question,” explaining that he and Clinton’s plans are nearly 95 percent the same and then quickly shifted back to what he called “substantial differences” on healthcare with John McCain.

Oregon voters head to the polls on May 20th, and Obama will campaign throughout the state for the next two days.

At a later town hall event, Obama responded to questions about Clinton and downplayed expectations for his campaign in the upcoming West Virginia and Kentucky primaries.

Speaking of Clinton, Obama predicted, “She is going to do very well in West Virginia and Kentucky. She’ll win those states, in all likelihood, by significant margins.”

Since declaring his candidacy, Obama has spent two days in Kentucky, and one in West Virginia vying for votes.

“We are still competing,” Obama added. He will campaign in West Virginia on Monday, just one day before the state’s primary.

Changing focus to a state where polls show he is ahead by a large margin, Obama said, "We feel like we have a pretty good shot here in Oregon.”

He said he will campaign "until I am the nominee," in the upcoming primary state of Puerto Rico which votes June 1, and the last primary states of Montana and South Dakota that vote June 3.

The senator’s breakdown of the states at play came after a question from a voter if he would choose Clinton as his vice president.

“I have not won this nomination yet, It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that she is going to be my running mate while we are still actively running,” and added, “we do not have this nomination locked up.”

May 9, 2008 in Bush, George W., Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (25)

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Goodbye to the McPolitics of the Clintons, and goodbye to McCain and the Bush League. Obama is the smart, young visionary America has been looking for since JFK's death in 1963. Obama has a bit to learn, but he's a fast learner and he's at the head of the class. What counts now isn't experience in the old ways of Congress but an intuition of what's to come, and the energy and audacity to make real, lasting changes. Kennedy predicted a man on the moon within a decade; Obama's vision will be even greater.

Posted by: Bill Morris | May 9, 2008 11:26:03 PM

Obama's middle name should be Arrogance.
He may be surprised when he comes out of his delusional self-agrandizement, to find that Senators Clinton and McCain are competing for the presidency.

Senator Clinton is still standing - in spite of a biased media which had the audacity to proclaim Obama the winner before the primary process ended. For 16 months she was slammed by the media and the golden boy was anointed. It isn't over until it is over.

Posted by: Karol | May 9, 2008 11:52:29 PM

It still annoys me how Obama somehow simply repeats what his opponents say. In recent days, I see him continuously repeat almost verbatum the eloquent statement I heard Hillary state some weeks ago...last statement in this article>
"It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that she is going to be my running mate while we are still actively running" Unless these two got together and decided that was how they were going to respond to the question...it seems like this man is still a puppet and just copies every idea she has...or steals it...even a simple sentence like that.....
Adding to, among others, even when he discounted her idea about taxing the petrol companies...he said that was only his idea and that she just wanted a "holiday''''
She wanted to turn that tax around to the companies...but oh....that had to be twisted around to be his idea....
when will we ever see logic again....after he is out of offic....? no one wants to hear or think...while he is around...

Posted by: voter.viewer | May 11, 2008 4:52:59 PM

ooooh I feel so angry I think I'm gonna VOTE REPUBLICAN!!! Then I'll feel better.
I'll show that arrogant Obama, who thinks he's better than everyone just because he has more votes and delegates and superdelegates and stuff
And I'll show Hillary who has shown how much she hates black people for her entire career
thanks ditto heads all across the internet
OPERATION CHAOS - SUCCESSFUL!
OPERATION CHAOS - SUCCESSFUL!
OPERATION CHAOS - SUCCESSFUL!

Posted by: Gina | May 11, 2008 11:53:35 PM

i am a republican and have always felt i would vote for john mccain. i did vote for bush. lately however, with all this democratic goings on, my attention has been diverted to clinton and obama.
i honestly feel that clinton must win this for herself and for the clinton name and that to me does not come over at all well. obama on the other hand, may be worth voting for if only to give this country a new chance - a new stance, and a good feeling about itself.
i shuddered when he said he would be ready to sit with iran, but i guess that would be on our terms if at all. what if it did bring some positive results and bring down the tensions in the area. bringing the troops home as soon as possible is a wonderful thing if it is the correct thing to do. sometimes i wonder, but what if it worked? gasoline prices vs clean fuels and efficient cars will always be a good thing. the environment needs to be addressed in a serious and timely manner. i think too many of us, myself included probably, are not ready to jump into this new and exciting vision of a united states as a world leader known for peaceful negotiations. a country where others can put their faith into to solve many global problems. we should all think long and hard about committing to this new approach to the future. we will be taking a massive chance if we took this route and failed. we would be seen as the biggest bunch of losers ever.
but but but i keep thinking if this whole new concept worked, just as obama says it should, we could soar to the heights we used to hold in the world, and be able to have the respect we once had all over again.
i'm thinking about my vote and it could belong to obama. all i need is the guts to carry this out and give all my grandkids a real chance for their future.

thanks for your time

Posted by: willie whyte | May 12, 2008 8:43:15 PM

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