Obama Infomercial Video (10-29-08)

Obama's 30 minute infomercial aired tonight: "American Stories, American Solutions"

Palin, McCain Interview with Maria Bartiromo: Transcript (10-28-08)

Complete Transcript.

BARTIROMO: We are in a financial crisis, clearly. We are expecting further layoffs and further banks to go belly-up. Why should the American people believe and feel that the two of you have your hands on the wheel and can take us out of this?

Sen. McCAIN: Well, because we have a plan of action to get America's economy going again, Maria, and it has to do with a wide range of prescriptions. But one of them is to keep people in their homes. Look, it was the housing crisis that started this, OK? Fannie and Freddie, this--was the catalyst that blew this whole thing up. And frankly, the administration is not doing what I think they should do, and that's go in and buy out these bad mortgages, give people mortgages they can afford, stabilize home values and start them back up again. They did that during the depression, it was called the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. We got to keep taxes low, we got to cut spending, we got to find alternative fuels, including offshore drilling and nuclear power. And we have to have a positive agenda for job creation. But I'd like to start with keeping people in their homes.

BARTIROMO: So, over the short term your plan is to keep people in their homes and buy those mortgages.

Sen. McCAIN: Create...

BARTIROMO: Over the longer term?

Sen. McCAIN: Over the longer term, as happened in the, by the way, during the Great Depression, was that over time money came into the Treasury. Obviously we have to stabilize our financial institutions, we have to unfreeze credit. How do you do all that? You create jobs in America. And we can do that in a broad variety of ways, and one of them is to stop this $700 billion transfer to countries that don't like us very much. Now, I know the price of oil is down temporarily, and that's reflective of a lot of conditions in the world. But we still have to free ourselves of our dependence on foreign oil, because over time it's still a finite resource.

BARTIROMO: Governor Palin, what about that? Now oil's around $60 a share--a barrel. Is it still an important issue to become energy independent? And how do you do it?

Gov. PALIN: Now is our opportunity to seize this and to be able to invest in the domestic solutions that are here now for that offshore drilling that is safe and responsible, for the nuclear that we need to tap into and the alternative sources. And yeah, drilling for the sources that we know are here and flowing that natural gas in the pipelines that we're building up there in Alaska, also. Now is the opportunity that we have, and we better seize it.

We cannot lull ourselves into this false sense of security just because the price of a barrel of oil today is 64 bucks, it's about half of what it had been I think even when we were speaking last, Maria. But no, now's our opportunity. The domestic solutions that are there, we tap into them, we become less and less beholden then on foreign sources of energy, and we circulate, as he says, these hundreds of billions of dollars a year in our own country, creating jobs for America.

Palin on ABC's 20/20: Transcript (10-29-08)

Gov. Sarah Palin was interviewed by Elizabeth Vargas:

ELIZABETH VARGAS: If it doesn't go your way on Tuesday ... 2012?

GOV SARAH PALIN: I'm just ... thinkin' that it's gonna go our way on Tuesday, November 4. I truly believe that the wisdom of ... of the people will be revealed on that day. As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrast between the two tickets. ...

VARGAS: But the point being that you haven't been so bruised by some of the double standard, the sexism on the campaign trail, to say, "I've had it. I'm going back to Alaska."

PALIN: Absolutely not. I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that ... that would ... bring this whole ... I'm not doin' this for naught.

VARGAS:You seemed to imply last night in a speech that Sen. Obama, if given the chance, would rewrite the Constitution to allow the courts to confiscate private property. Is that what you meant to say?

PALIN: No. Asking the question, what do his comments, from back there in 2001, candid comments that are caught on tape, what do they suggest in, in terms of his idea for future Supreme Court justices, and perhaps for ... he being able to reach some of the goals that it seems that he has, in terms of redistributing other people's wealth, hard-earned money, according to his priorities. But, no, not ... not an explicit allegation like that. No.

VARGAS: He did ... 'cause I did read that interview. He didn't advocate using the courts. He actually was quoted as saying he thought the courts were not a good way to redistribute any kind of socioeconomic ...

PALIN: Well, I think that people can ... can read the comments and hear the comments that he made, because again, the, the refreshing thing about that tape being revealed ... from 2001... it's candidness there. It's not ... it didn't seem to be his typical scripted, kinda ... rhetorical message read off a TelePrompter. There it was, where he talked about, though, his desire, it sounded like, for redistributing wealth.

But ... even more telling when that, of course, was the candor that he showed in his conversation that he had with Joe the Plumber, where he outright said, in plain language, that, that ideal there, that he has about ... he calls it the spreading of the wealth. As I talked about in my speech, Joe Biden calling higher taxes patriotic. But to a lot of people, including Joe, Joe the Plumber, they said that that suggested socialism, and now isn't the time to experiment with that. So it's very important that American voters have all the information that they can, based on somebody's record and candid comments, so that they ... we can figure out, where would that candidate try to take the nation?

McCain on 'Larry King Live': Transcript (10-29-08)

Complete transcript.

KING: Are you worried?

MCCAIN: Well, I don't think it's...

MCCAIN: I don't think it's "worried." I think, obviously, I know we're still the underdog. We're now 2 or 3 or 4 points down. And we've got six days to go to make that up. But it's not a matter of worry; it's just, you know, you and I have been together long enough, you know I love the underdog status. I just want to leave that status at the time the polls close.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

KING: ... be favored.

All right. Sen. Obama had a 30-minute ad buy tonight. It ran right before we went on the air. Does that make it hard for you, the amount of money being spent against you?

MCCAIN: Well, let me tell what's ...

KING: Frankly?

MCCAIN: Let me -- frankly, what's disturbing about it is that he signed a piece of paper back when he was a long shot candidate. And he signed it, said I won't -- I will take public financing for the presidential campaign if John McCain will. I mean, it's a living document.

He didn't tell the American people the truth. And then twice he looked into the camera when he was in debate with Sen. Clinton and said, "I'll sit down and negotiate with John McCain before I decide on public financing."

Well, he didn't tell the American people the truth. He never had any -- I'm still waiting for the call. So -- and what has happened now is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars that are undocumented credit cards. And we don't know where they came from; we don't know who contributed it. Video Watch McCain talk about public financing »

And all my career, I've been trying to increase transparency, accountability, and bring courage (phonetic) to the flow of money. You tell me the next time now a presidential candidate will take public financing when Sen. Obama has shown you can raise millions of dollars.

KING: (INAUDIBLE)

MCCAIN: And so we don't know who those donors are. Their response will be, oh, well, they're just small donors. We don't know that. We don't know that, because they're undocumented.

KING: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: We document every penny ...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: If it wasn't a change of mind, what are you suspicious of?

MCCAIN: What am I suspicious ...

KING: You make it sound like you're suspicious of something.

MCCAIN: Well, whenever you have hundreds of millions of dollars undocumented in campaign contributions, these are the "small contributions," of course it opens itself up to question, because the one thing we need in financing of campaigns and contributions is transparency.

Sen. Obama has not told the American people the truth. So therefore he now is able to buy these half-hour infomercials and, frankly, is going to try to convince the American people through his rhetoric what his record shows that he's not.

KING: You told me some time ago, like back in February, that what you wanted this race to be was clean. You wanted the race solely based on issues. What happened?

MCCAIN: Well, the first thing that happened is that I asked Sen. Obama urgently and repeatedly to come and do town hall meetings with me the way Jack Kennedy and Barry Goldwater had agreed to do before the tragedy of Dallas intervened.

When you're on the stage with someone, and you're -- every few days, and you're having to talk to the American people directly, that changes the tenor of an entire campaign. You know that, you've seen it, and I've seen it.

So he refused. So he refused to do that. Now, the fact is that Sen. Obama now has paid more for negative advertising against me than any presidential campaign in history, in history.

KING: And you haven't done that?

MCCAIN: Of course we have run ads that point out his record and also point out his associations. And I still think, you know, we're watching now, a major newspaper has a tape that apparently has Mr. William Ayers in it. I don't know if it does or not. That's the allegation.

But that newspaper and their parent, the Tribune Company, and the Obama campaign refuse to release that. Shouldn't the American people know about that? At least they should have full information.

McCain Speech in Hershey, Pennsylvania: Transcript (10-28-08)

Full Transcript.

We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: hoping for our luck to change at home and abroad. We have to act. We need a new direction, and we have to fight for it.

I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to shake up Washington and take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it.

I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home. 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 businesses in America. Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy.

If I'm elected President, I won't spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money. Senator Obama will. And he can't do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do.

I will freeze government spending on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren't working for the American people. And I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congresses passes.

I'm not going to spend $750 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the working people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington.

I have a plan to fix our housing market, so that your home value doesn't go down when your neighbor defaults, and so that people in danger of defaulting have a path to pay off their loan.

If I'm elected President, we're going to stop spending $700 billion to buy oil from countries that don't like us very much. Senator Obama will argue to delay drilling for more oil and gas and against building new nuclear power plants in America. If I am president, we will start new drilling now. We will invest in all energy alternatives -- nuclear, wind, solar, and tide. We will encourage the manufacture of hybrid, flex fuel and electric automobiles. We will invest in clean coal technology. We will lower the cost of energy within months, and we will create millions of new jobs.

We've learned more about Senator Obama's real goals for our country over the last two weeks than we learned over the past two years, and that only because Joe the plumber asked him a question in Ohio. That's when Senator Obama revealed he wants to quote "spread the wealth around."

Obama Speech in Chester, Pennsylvania: Transcript (10-28-08)

Full Transcript.

After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, and twenty-one months of a campaign that has taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are one week away from change in America.

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.

In one week, you can choose policies that invest in our middle-class, create new jobs, and grow this economy from the bottom-up so that everyone has a chance to succeed; from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor; from the factory owner to the men and women who work on its floor.

In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.

In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.

We began this journey in the depths of winter nearly two years ago, on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Back then, we didn't have much money or many endorsements. We weren't given much of a chance by the polls or the pundits, and we knew how steep our climb would be.

But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas, new leadership, and a new kind of politics - one that favors common sense over ideology; one that focuses on those values and ideals we hold in common as Americans.

Most of all, I believed in your ability to make change happen. I knew that the American people were a decent, generous people who are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations. And I was convinced that when we come together, our voices are more powerful than the most entrenched lobbyists, or the most vicious political attacks, or the full force of a status quo in Washington that wants to keep things just the way they are.

Twenty-one months later, my faith in the American people has been vindicated. That's how we've come so far and so close - because of you. That's how we'll change this country - with your help. And that's why we can't afford to slow down, sit back, or let up for one day, one minute, or one second in this last week. Not now. Not when so much is at stake.

John, Cindy McCain on 'Hannity & Colmes': Transcript (10-28-08)

Full Transcript.

HANNITY: It is amazing how "Joe the Plumber" — you know, everywhere I go — and I saw a sign here today, "I'm Sally the Homemaker," I'm somebody the Bartender. And I hold up signs whenever I go, "I'm Sean the Loudmouth Talk Show Host."

J. MCCAIN: You know, it's amazing. This "Joe the Plumber" event has really been a catalyst. It really has.

You know we look back on political campaigns. "I paid for this microphone, Mr. Breen." Ed Muskie crying outside The Union Leader, or whatever it was. You know, there are moments when something happens and clearly Senator Obama going to "Joe the Plumber's" driveway and him getting an answer that clearly he didn't like. And by the way, the way that they attacked him? Please.

HANNITY: They've gone after him pretty hard, they've mocked him on the campaign trail. There's been apparently issues of investigating his background.

J. MCCAIN: Oh yes.

HANNITY: And I thought Governor Palin had it bad at one point when they sent a mini army up to Alaska to investigate her.

Well, here's...

J. MCCAIN: And, of course, if anybody in the media, much less "Joe the Plumber," asks a tough question, then they're boycotted, they pull their ads.

HANNITY: I want to get to that, because Senator Obama said it's a tragedy "... that redistribution of wealth was not pursued by the Supreme Court."

J. MCCAIN: That's what's scary. You know, a lot of people believe that there's going to be three vacancies on the United States Supreme Court. And some of the thoughts and writings and statements by Senator Obama about how it's the job of the judiciary to be "redistributed?"

But I think — fast forward after just a short time ago. Senator Obama opposed Justices Roberts and Alito. And he said on ideological grounds. And Sean, a true confession. I voted for Justices Breyer and Ginsburg. Not because I agreed with their philosophy, but because they were qualified to serve.

HANNITY: Even though you...

J. MCCAIN: Even though I had strong disagreements with their ideology. Now Senator Obama wanted to filibuster Roberts and Alito and oppose them because of their quote, "conservative views."

Look, are they qualified? Of course Roberts and Alito are. And so I think, frankly, this is really revealing to Americans who understand the importance of Supreme Court justices.

HANNITY: That's obviously a big issue in the campaign. There may be two, or as you point out, as many as three vacancies on the court.

Let me ask you a couple of simple questions about this redistribution of wealth of "Senator Redistribution."

Is it socialism?

J. MCCAIN: Certainly it's part of the socialist creed, philosophy, to share the wealth. Now if Senator Obama's a "socialist" is something that I'll let those theoreticians decide.

But the fact is that it's a far-left liberal view that you need to take money from one group of Americans and give it to another, to take people who have built up through their labor and their hard work and their dedication to the free enterprise system and take it away from them.

Now, of course we have an obligation to take care of citizens in our society who can't care for themselves. That's why we have those programs, those safety net programs. But you know, the safety net programs, a lot of Americans pay in to Social Security, they pay in to a number of those programs.

So the point is, yes, a society and government takes care of citizens who need our help. That's what America is all about. But nobody that I know of who framed our Constitution had any thoughts that we would take money from one group of Americans and give it to another.