Obama, McCain make final pitches on radio

In their final weekly radio addresses before Election Day, Barack Obama and John McCain stick today to their core closing messages.

For anyone who didn't see or hear his "closing argument" speech earlier this week in Ohio or were not among the 33.5 million who watched Obama's half-hour pitch on primetime TV Wednesday, he reprises key points about how McCain would worsen President Bush's policies.

"In three days, we can write our nation’s next great chapter," he says. "We can choose to end the failed philosophy that’s put Wall Street ahead of Main Street and ended up hurting both. We can choose to take on the special interests in Washington and make the White House the people’s house again. We can choose hope over fear, unity over division; the promise of change over the power of the status quo."

"I’m Barack Obama," he concludes. "If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won’t just win this election – together, we will change this country and change the world.

McCain says that Obama would redistribute wealth instead of creating more, would not protect America resolutely enough, and would mean dangerous one-party rule in Washington with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"Even with our troops engaged in two wars, and with a force in need of rebuilding, we're getting a glimpse of what one-party rule would look like under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Apparently it starts with lowering our defenses and raising our taxes," McCain says.

"At least when European nations chose the path of higher taxes and cutting defense, they knew that their security would be guaranteed by America. But if America takes the same path, who will guarantee our security?"

McCain's closing is somewhat more pleading, befitting his position behind in the polls: "To do all of this, my fellow Americans, I need your help. I need your confidence. And I am asking for your vote."

The full texts of both are below.

Obama's address:

Good morning. This is Barack Obama.

After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, and twenty-one months of campaigning – Tuesday is our opportunity to bring this country the change we need.

We face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Businesses and families can’t get credit. Home values are falling, and pensions are disappearing. Wages are lower than they’ve been in a decade, at a time when the costs of health care and college have never been higher.

At a moment like this, with so much at stake, we can’t afford four more years of the tired, old, trickle-down, on your own philosophy that got us into this mess.

America needs a new direction. That’s why I’m running for President of the United States.

Senator McCain has served his country honorably. But when it comes to the economy, John McCain still can’t tell the American people one major thing he’d do differently from George Bush.

At a time when so many families are hurting, John McCain wants to give a $700,000 tax cut to the average Fortune 500 CEO, but not one penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans. That’s not change.

In this election, the biggest gamble we can take is embracing the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years.

We’ve tried it their way. It hasn’t worked. It’s time to turn the page.

As President, I’ll give a tax break to 95 percent of workers and their families, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000.

Unlike John McCain, I’ll end tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and give them to companies that create jobs here in America.

We’ll create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and laying broadband lines that reach every corner of the country.

We’ll invest $15 billion a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new green jobs that pay well, can’t be outsourced, and help end our dependence on foreign oil.

We’ll reduce the cost of health care to ensure affordable, accessible coverage for all Americans. If you already have health insurance, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of plan I have as a Member of Congress.

We’ll guarantee every child a world-class education by investing in early childhood education and recruiting an army of new teachers. And I’ll make a deal with every young American: if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford your college tuition.

And I will keep this country safe by ending the Iraq war responsibly – so we stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while it sits on a huge surplus. And I’ll finish the fight against bin Laden and the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.

None of this will be easy. It won’t happen overnight. But I believe we can do all this because I believe in America. At each and every moment in our history, we’ve risen to meet our challenges, because we’ve never forgotten the fundamental truth that in America, our destiny is not written for us, but by us.

In three days, we can write our nation’s next great chapter.

We can choose to end the failed philosophy that’s put Wall Street ahead of Main Street and ended up hurting both.

We can choose to take on the special interests in Washington and make the White House the people’s house again.

We can choose hope over fear, unity over division; the promise of change over the power of the status quo.

I’m Barack Obama. If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won’t just win this election – together, we will change this country and change the world.

Thank you for listening, and may God bless the United States of America.

McCain's address:

Good morning, this is John McCain, speaking to you just 72 hours before the time for choosing.
Presidential elections have a way of settling on a few great questions as the moment of decision arrives, and this has happened in the closing days of the election of 2008.

We've learned that Barack Obama's economic plan for America to redistribute the wealth of America with higher taxes. It took a working man in Ohio to finally get him to explain his economic plan in plain language. Senator Obama wants to "spread the wealth around." He thinks that your job is to earn wealth, and the government's job is to spread it.

I reject the ideology of redistributing wealth, and I always have. I believe that the only way to pull our economy out of this terrible time of worry and hardship is to spread opportunity. Low taxes reward effort and create jobs. We're going to double the child deduction for working families. We will cut the capital gains tax. And we will cut business taxes to help create jobs, and keep American business in America.

At the same time, I'm going to make government finally live on a budget, just like you do, and I am going to enforce that discipline by the power of veto.

My fellow Americans, we're going to get through this present economic crisis. And we will even come out stronger -- without the corruption and arrogance that have overtaken both Washington and Wall Street. We're going to pull through these hard times -- and do it together, just as our country has done before.

And when that day arrives, we will find awaiting our country all of the same great challenges and dangers that were there all along. At a time when the jobs and financial security of our people seem at risk, it is hard to spare much thought even for the great and abiding concerns of this nation's security, and the security of our friends and allies across the world. But these dangers have not gone away while we turned our attention elsewhere. And the next president will meet no greater test than defending America from these threats.

Victory must still be secured, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Obama opposed removing the dictator in Iraq, and now obstinately opposes the need to defend the young democracy in that country -- even with victory so clearly in sight. He cites as his most courageous moment in public life a speech he gave in 2002 -- against a war resolution on which he had no vote, on a matter of national security for which he bore no responsibility. He hopes you will forget the votes he cast when he actually did have responsibility, his votes to prevent the strategy that is leading to victory, and to deny funding for the troops who are gaining that victory. And now he hopes that in the cloud of crisis at home you will forget the stakes in Iraq -- the disaster and tragedy that would follow if American forces leave in retreat.

With terrorists still plotting new strikes across the world, millions of innocent lives are still at stake, including American lives. Our enemies' violent ambitions must still be prevented -- by American vigilance, by diplomacy and cooperation with our partners, and by force of arms as a last resort. In his four years in the Senate, two of them spent running for president, Barack Obama has displayed some impressive qualities. But the question is whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, and other grave threats in the world. And he has given you no reason to answer in the affirmative.

At the same time, Democrats in Congress have already proposed to cut defense spending by 25 percent. Even with our troops engaged in two wars, and with a force in need of rebuilding, we're getting a glimpse of what one-party rule would look like under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Apparently it starts with lowering our defenses and raising our taxes.

At least when European nations chose the path of higher taxes and cutting defense, they knew that their security would be guaranteed by America. But if America takes the same path, who will guarantee our security?

We have passed through a difficult time, and more courage will be needed in the years ahead. But there is a direction to events, and the sacrifices of the present have not been in vain.
We will build on our hard-won victories to extend the security of our nation and of every nation that seeks to live in freedom. We will not yield to intimidation, and by our strength we will prevent threats from turning into tragedies. This is America's work in the world, as it always has been in our finest moments. We are called still to spread liberty, to assure justice, to be the makers of peace. And this is the great work I will carry on as your president and commander in chief.

To do all of this, my fellow Americans, I need your help. I need your confidence. And I am asking for your vote.

Thank you for listening.