Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a conference call today said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) owes an apology to the American people for his comparison of Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to unrepentant former terrorist William Ayers.
McCain said Coburn was a “great American citizen who goes back to Oklahoma to deliver babies” on the weekends and Ayers is someone who was “involved in an organization that took innocent lives through bombings...”
“I am offended at a comparison to a man like Tom Coburn…and this is something the American people ought to discuss,” said McCain.
In other campaign drama, McCain commented on his recent request that the North Carolina Republican Party pull an ad they have criticizing Obama because of his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Wright’s anti-American racist tirades have been the biggest problem Obama has had to deal with for the last month.
“That is not the tenor of campaign we want to wage,” McCain said, adding it was “unwarranted and not necessary” to demonstrate the differences between himself and Obama in that manner.
“As the nominee of the party, I want the best kind of campaign, most positive campaign we can possibly achieve,” he said.
He spoke the “Service to America” tour, where his “Straight Talk Express” has ventured into the smallest, forgotten small towns in America to make a connection with voters of every class. He said the main lesson learned on the tour has been that local governments control decisions far more effectively than large bureaucracies.
McCain believes the same goes for economy, which he says should be regulated more locally as well. He advocates tax reductions and said he is “committed to economic principles put into practice when Reagan came into office.”
McCain said many of those principles have been “violated” by Republicans participating in increasing already out-control federal spending, exemplified in increased earmarks which have grown by 940% in the past 10 years (at a cost to taxpayers of more than $4 billion in earmarks in the last two years alone).
“I believe economic growth increases revenues,” said McCain. “Anyone who wants to raise taxes doesn’t understand fundamentals of economy and is out of touch with the American people.”
McCain also expressed “pleasant surprise” at the progress of the Iraqi military in Basra under the leadership of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He said “for all intents and purposes,” the Iraqis have control of Basra and he is “pleased with the outcome.”
As things improve in Iraq, McCain believes he could be the president terrorist groups like Hamas would fear most. Recently, Hamas endorsed Barack Obama as their choice for President and McCain pointed out that dictator Daniel Ortega said the same.
“I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare,” said McCain.
He noted that Obama has said he would sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denies the Holocaust ever happened and wants to destroy Israel.
“Their country is stepping up their exports of explosives in Iraq that are killing young Americans,” said McCain. “It’s understandable why they would not want me to be President of the United States…[and] people can make judgments accordingly.”
