Obama: McCain focused on biography, not economy

Obama: McCain focused on biography, not economy

DURYEA, Pa. — Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain’s acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee’s biography instead of the struggles of the middle class.

“If you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn’t know that we have the highest unemployment in five years because they didn’t say a thing about what is going on with the middle class,” Obama told workers at a glass factory.

“They spent a lot of time talking about John McCain’s biography, which we all honor,” the Illinois senator said.

Obama pointed out that the U.S. jobless rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August.

“We’ve now lost 605,000 jobs since the beginning of this year,” Obama said. “We’ve had eight consecutive months of job losses.”

McCain says ’it’s over’ for special interests

CEDARBURG, Wis. — John McCain said Friday the sagging economy has brought “tough times all over America” as the newly chosen Republican presidential ticket debuted in critical Midwestern states.

A crowd of thousands cheered the Arizona senator and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as they presented themselves as a team of reformers eager to challenge Washington’s political establishment.

“It’s over. It’s over. It’s over for the special interests,” McCain promised.

Twelve hours after leaving the Republican convention in Minnesota, McCain and Palin were cheered and applauded by a throng of thousands that wound down several streets of Cedarburg, a traditional Republican enclave within Democratic-leaning Wisconsin.

Poll: Only 4 in 10 say Palin has enough experience

WASHINGTON — Just four in 10 say Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has enough experience to be president, while nearly two-thirds say so about Joe Biden, her Democratic counterpart, a poll showed Friday.

Views of Palin largely reflect partisan loyalty and show she’s having little initial impact on which presidential ticket people support, the ABC News survey showed.

Eight in 10 Republicans and more than four in 10 independents say they have more confidence in Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s decision-making for his selection of Palin. Six in 10 Democrats say it reduces theirs.

Associated Press