McCain calls Ill. senator insensitive to poor people
John McCain yesterday called Barack Obama insensitive to poor people and out of touch on economic issues.
The Republican nominee-in-waiting criticized his Democratic rival for opposing his proposal to suspend the tax on fuel during the summer, which McCain believes will particularly help low-income people, who usually have older cars that use more gas.
"I noticed again today that Senator Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives," McCain said. "Obviously Senator Obama does not understand that this would be a nice thing for Americans, and the special interests should not be dictating this policy."
The Arizona senator, who campaigned yesterday in Coral Gables, Fla., deflected questions about his record on the Bush administration's tax cuts, which he initially opposed but now supports.
"Senator Obama wants to raise the capital gains tax, which would have a direct effect on 100 million Americans," McCain said. "That means he has no understanding of the economy and that he is totally insensitive to the hopes and dreams and ambitions of 100 million Americans who will be affected."
Appearing yesterday on "Fox News Sunday," Obama said McCain "not only wants to continue some of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, he actually wants to extend them, and he hasn't told us really how he's going to pay for them. It is irresponsible."
Obama also said he would not raise the capital gains tax higher than it was under President Reagan and added, "I'm mindful that we've got to keep our capital gains tax to a point where we can actually get more revenue."
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Dean said he believes their decisions ultimately will be based on who is more electable, rather than necessarily who has the most pledged delegates, because that is what party rules stipulate. "This is essentially pretty close to a tie here," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"What's going to happen in the last nine primaries is there's going to be some feeling at some point that one of these candidates is more likely to win than the other and that person will get the nomination," Dean said. "I can't tell you who that is, I have no idea who that is, but that's what's going to happen."
Dean also said that he expected the party to heal from the bitter primary race if superdelegates make their decisions in June and that he believes Michigan and Florida delegates will be "seated in some way."
"If you go into the convention divided, it's pretty likely you'll come out of the convention divided," he said.
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The Democratic National Committee had stripped both states of their delegates because they held their primaries too early. DNC members in those states have filed challenges to restore the delegates.
Under the compromise plan, all superdelegates from both states would count as full votes.
Hillary Clinton won both contests and is pushing for the delegates to be seated. But her rival, Barack Obama, said that wouldn't be fair because all the candidates agreed to boycott the contests and his name wasn't on Michigan's ballot.
Some Obama supporters have suggested splitting the delegates evenly as a fair way to handle the issue.
The DNC has scheduled a hearing for May 31 to hear proposals for settling the dispute.
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