Obama Speech on the Economic Crisis: Transcript (9-16-08)

Obama gave this speech on Tuesday at the Colorado School of Mines (Golden,Colorado). Read the full transcript and see the complete video.

Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what's at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people's faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

Since this turmoil began over a year ago, the housing market has collapsed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be effectively taken over by the government. Three of America's five largest investment banks failed or have been sold off in distress. Yesterday, Wall Street suffered its worst losses since just after 9/11. We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Senator McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong

A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks, and he tried to explain himself again this morning by saying that what he meant was that American workers are strong. But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time, because he has said it over and over again throughout this campaign - no fewer than 16 times, according to one independent count.

Now I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for all of the problems we're facing, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. Because the truth is, what Senator McCain said yesterday fits with the same economic philosophy that he's had for 26 years. It's the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It's the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It's a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people.

We've had this philosophy for eight years. We know the results. You feel it in your own lives. Jobs have disappeared, and peoples' life savings have been put at risk. Millions of families face foreclosure, and millions more have seen their home values plummet. The cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care has gone up, while the dream of a college education for our kids and a secure and dignified retirement for our seniors is slipping away. These are the struggles that Americans are facing. This is the pain that has now trickled up.

McCain, Biden on CBS Early Show: Transcript (9-16-08)

Read the transcript found on Newsbuster.

SMITH: I want to make sure I have this straight now. Yesterday, on the campaign trail, you reiterated that you believe the fundamentals of the economy are strong. At the same time, we understand your campaign is issuing an ad that says the economy is in crisis. Which is it?

MCCAIN: Well, the economy's in crisis. The fundamentals of our economy are the American worker. The American worker is still the most productive and the hardest working, most industrious worker in the world and I'm proud of them. They have been betrayed by Wall Street, by greed, by excess, and by corruption and they have been done a great disservice, but if someone disagrees that American workers aren't the best in the world, we just have a disagreement. Their the fundamentals of our -- the strength of America. But the point is greed, excess, corruption has betrayed them and now we are facing a crisis.

SMITH: And the answer for which is what? Because throughout your campaign, you have said you are anti-regulation. Would not oversight have helped avert this crisis?

MCCAIN: Actually, a little -- two years ago, I warned that the oversight of Fannie and Freddie was, was terrible, that we were facing a crisis because of it, or certainly serious problems, and the fact is that we saw a relationship between Fannie and Freddie and the Congress, as well as the administration, which caused the housing market, obviously, was a great contributor in the housing market collapsing as it has, which was a big factor in the problems we're having today. But the influence that Fannie and Freddie had in the inside the beltway, old boy network, which led to this kind of corruption is unacceptable and I warned about it a couple of years ago. Do I believe in excess government regulation? Yes. But this patchwork quilt of regulation -- regulating bodies is designed for the 1930s when they were invented.

[...]RODRIGUEZ: I'm fine, thank you. Senator McCain just named some of the same culprits that you and Senator Obama blamed for this crisis yesterday, Wall Street greed and excess. And he called for a restructuring of oversight and regulation. You seem to be on the same page.

BIDEN: Well, it seems like John's had an epiphany. 9:00 yesterday morning John thought the economy was going great guns and the Bush Administration is doing well, and today he thinks it's in crisis. And you know, I heard John say that the American people are strong. John ought to come to my old neighborhood and find out that foreclosures are sky high, find out gas and grocery prices are up, find out the middle class people made 2,000 bucks less over this term with the president than they did before he was president. Find out that, in fact, they're in real trouble in terms of their ability to stay in their homes. I mean, I don't understand this. I -- John, quite frankly, confuses me. He was-

McCain Aide Claims Nominee ‘Helped Create’ BlackBerry

Does Senator McCain read the history books? Then he would know that it was the infamous Gore-invented-the-Internet myth that hurt the Democratic nominee in 2000. This is going to stick. Just like McCain's idiotic insistence that the economy is fundamentally sound.

Holtz-Eakin stirred these memories Tuesday as he held up his BlackBerry before reporters and said, “Telecommunications of the United States is a premier innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce Committee. So you’re looking at the miracle John McCain helped create, and that’s what he did.”

McCain’s campaign didn’t even try to back it up.

Asked what legislation McCain had worked on that might be used to justify the claim, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds dismissed the comments by Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director, as a bad turn at stand-up comedy by an adviser and nothing personally claimed by the candidate.

The reason for this lie is that McCain doesn't have much of a record to brag about as Senator all these years. They have to make it up.

A quick look at McCain’s work as Commerce chairman tells you why. Virtually all of his hearings were about other things: tobacco regulation, the “Y2K” challenge (remember Y2K?), trade with China, climate change, and pet causes such as media ownership and the Air Force’s decision to lease refueling tankers from Boeing. When he dealt with the telecommunications industry, it was usually on broader topics like competition and mergers.

This gaffe follows the statement that will haunt Mr.McCain the most in the days and weeks to come. It is a statement that guarantees that Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States.

"You know that there's been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall St. And it is -- people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times."

Here is another perpspective:

Then they send his policy advisor out to argue that McCain knows this stuff because he used to be chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce -- and he bogusly claims that McCain is responsible for the creation of the Blackberry. This was widely mocked, such as by a former FCC chairman who points out that the Blackberry is the result of Canadian innovation, and had to be walked back. (Bonus trivia: McCain was replaced as Commerce chair by Ted "Tubes" Stevens. So there's a whole history of telecom expertise there.)

Also, he started using the phrase "enough is enough" as a tag in his speeches and ads, which Obama has been using for a month now. Oh, and as I've been predicting, the travelling press is starting to get pissed that McCain won't, you know, talk to the press.

Obama Interview on "Money and Politics": Transcript (9-15-08)

This interview was done by Bloomberg. Read the full transcript.

MR. COOK: Given what played out on Wall Street today, I've got to ask you your reaction to it. How serious is this situation? How dire a situation? Is it going to be the top priority of the next president?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think it's a very serious situation. We don't yet know how it's going to play out this week. But here's what we know. One of the most storied firms on Wall Street is now gone. The fact that Merrill was purchased by Bank of America I think was very helpful because there's no doubt that there might have been a move in the direction of Merrill going under as well. But we still have problems with AIG out there, we still have problems with WAMU. I think that there is enormous amount of uncertainty.

I was pleased to see that sort of the internal plumbing of the trading and systems remain in place, but obviously the stock market took a huge hit and that's an indication of how fragile things are. There's no doubt that there's going to be some credit contraction and all of this will end up having an impact on Main Street, on whether or not businesses can get financing for plants and equipment, whether they're hiring more workers, consumers obviously more uncertain. And it really indicates the degree to which over the last eight years we have not put in place the kind of regulatory frameworks, the transparency and accountability that could have prevented this problem in the first place.

MR. COOK: Well, I want to hear about some of your solutions on that score in just a moment, but let me ask you one basic question that people are asking today. Given the selloff on Wall Street, given the intervention by the federal government just a few months ago at Bear Stearns, do you think it would have been reasonable for the government to do more to help Lehman Brothers avoid the fate that it's now - it's in bankruptcy now?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I don't want to play Monday morning quarterback because I think that there are a lot of factors involved here. The market had a long time to absorb the problems at Lehman's in a way that it didn't have in Bear Stearns, and the idea that taxpayers can continue to be on the hook for firm after firm after firm I think is a real problem. Whether it's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or some of the investment banks, at some level what you had is a situation in which investors and management at these firms were taking extraordinary risks with enormous upside when the market was good, but you can't have a situation where you expect the taxpayer to foot the bill when times are bad. And I think that Secretary Paulson understood that at some point the market it going to have to solve some of these problems.

Now, what I'm much more critical about is the last eight years and the lack of a regulatory framework. I warned a year ago, a year and a half ago, two years ago that what was happening in the subprime lending market was inappropriate, that nobody was looking at whether or not these loans made sense, that in many cases they were pushed into communities that in which workers and homebuyers couldn't support the underlying mortgages, and the fact that we just did not do anything is reminiscent of what happened during the savings and loans crisis. And we've got to recognize that given banks no longer are the largest source of capital on Wall Street, that our regulatory frameworks have to catch up. That's something that we should have dealt with earlier. It's something that I intend to deal with as president.

Crisis: Global Stock Markets Continue Fall

Is anyone saying what needs to be said to stave off disaster? Have Congress, the White House and Wall St. big shots sat down to blue print a crisis plan? Have the presidential candidates stopped talking about tax cuts and called for a full economic war footing to stave off the invasion of depression? There was much more concern and preparedness done in the wake of hurricane Ike. There shouldn't be anything else on TV other the economic crisis. Anna Nicole's death got more coverage that this Wall St. meltdown.

Losses on stock markets have continued after the collapse of fourth largest US investment bank, Lehman Brothers, which has filed for bankruptcy protection.

European stocks fell again; the UK's FTSE 100 was down 4.4%, France's Cac down 2.9% and Germany's Dax down 3.2%.

Shares in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong fell more than 5%, having been shut on Monday for public holidays.

Lehman, which may be about to sell its core assets to Barclays, is the latest victim of the global credit crunch.

The FTSE 100 of leading UK shares fell 1230 points to 4,975 in early afternoon trade. Banking shares were particularly hard hit, with HBOS shares 35% lower.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 5% to a three-year low, shares in South Korea and Hong Kong shed almost 6% in value and Shanghai's index fell by about 3%.

Markets in Taipei and Singapore were also sharply down, and the pattern was repeated in Australia and New Zealand, although the falls were smaller.

The US stock market on Monday had its worst day's trading since 9/11, with the Dow Jones index ending the day down 504.48 points, or 4.42%, at 10,917.51.

Central banks around the world have been carrying out emergency measures on Tuesday to keep markets liquid.

The moves came as the interest rates at which banks lend to each other rocketed - as they did at the start of the credit crunch. This is seen as a sign of falling confidence between the banks.

Overnight sterling Libor increased from 5.5% to 6.8%, and the dollar Libor rate increased from 3.1% to 6.4%.

The Federal Reserve said it was set to make a "large" injection of liquidity to help stressed financial markets[...]

U.S. General Warns of "Fragile" Iraq Security

Despite the claims of some Republicans, including McCain, we are not winning in Iraq.

The new US military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, has said that recent security gains there are "fragile and reversible".

He was speaking in Baghdad at a ceremony to replace Gen David Petraeus.

Gen Petraeus, who implemented the "surge" of nearly 30,000 extra US troops in Iraq, is widely credited with driving down levels of violence there.

He has been promoted to oversee operations in Afghanistan and in the Middle East, including Iraq.

He will take up the post as head of the US Central Command in late October, working from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

Gen Petraeus handed the command of the 146,000-strong US force at a ceremony in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces on the outskirts of the capital.

He thanked his troops and hailed his successor as "the perfect man for the job".

Gen Odierno said he was aware of the tough task ahead, adding that the Iraqi people must take charge as "the struggle is theirs to win".

He said: "Iraq is now a different country from the one I had seen first. However, we must realise that these gains are fragile and reversible."

Presiding over the ceremony, the US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, said the two generals had formed an "incredible team" while implementing the "surge" plan in 2007.

He said that Gen Odierno, who served as deputy commander in Iraq for 15 months, knew "we are at a pivotal moment where progress remains fragile and caution should be the order of the day".

[...]In a BBC interview before his departure, Gen Petraeus said he would never declare victory in Iraq and that the US still faced a "long struggle" in the country.

When asked if US troops could withdraw from Iraqi cities by the middle of next year, he said that would be "doable".

Mr Bush has announced a cut of 8,000 US troops in Iraq by February - with some 4,500 being sent to Afghanistan.

Joe Biden Michigan Speech Transcript (9-15-08)

Read the full transcript of a speech given today by Democratic VP nominee, Joe Biden.

Eight years ago, a man ran for President who claimed he was different, not a typical Republican. He called himself a reformer. He admitted that his Party, the Republican Party, had been wrong about things from time to time. He promised to work with Democrats and said he'd been doing that for a long time.

That candidate was George W. Bush. Remember that? Remember the promise to reach across the aisle? To change the tone? To restore honor and dignity to the White House?

We saw how that story ends. A record number of home foreclosures. Home values, tumbling. And the disturbing news that the crisis you've been facing on Main Street is now hitting Wall Street, taking down Lehman Brothers and threatening other financial institutions.

We've seen eight straight months of job losses. Nearly 46 million Americans without health insurance. Average incomes down, while the price of everything -- from gas to groceries -- has skyrocketed. A military stretched thin from two wars and multiple deployments.

A nation more polarized than I've ever seen in my career. And a culture in Washington where the very few wealthy and powerful have a seat at the table and everybody else is on the menu.

Eight years later, we have another Republican nominee who's telling us the exact same thing:

This time it will be different, it really will. This time he's going to put country before party, to change the tone, reach across the aisle, change the Republican Party, change the way Washington works.

We've seen this movie before, folks. But as everyone knows, the sequel is always worse than the original.

If we forget this history, we're going to be doomed to repeat it -- with four more just like the last eight, or worse. If you're ready for four more years of George Bush, John McCain is your man.

Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed "Bush 41" and his son is known as "Bush 43," John McCain could easily become known as "Bush 44."

The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they'll govern. The McCain-Palin campaign has decided to bet the house on the politics perfected by Karl Rove. Those tactics may be good at squeaking by in an election, but they are bad if you want to lead one nation, indivisible.

I count John McCain as a friend. I've known him since before he was a Senator. If he needed my personal help, I'd go. He served our country bravely, nobly. But America needs more than a great solider, America needs a wise leader.

Take a hard look at the positions John has taken for the past 26 years, on the economy, on health care, on foreign policy, and you'll see why I say that John McCain is just four more years of George Bush. On the issues that you talk about around the kitchen table, Mary's college tuition, the cost of the MRI for mom, heating our home this winter -- John McCain is profoundly out of touch.

Tina Fey as Palin on SNL: Transcript, Video

This is hysterical. If you haven't seen it yet click here (also includes a transcript). (update: video from 2nd Tina Fey as Palin, Amy Poehler as Katie Couric shown skit 9-27-08 or see video at bottom of this page).

FEY/PALIN: Good evening, my fellow Americans. I was so excited when I was told Senator Clinton and I would be addressing you tonight.

POEHLER/CLINTON: And I was told I would be addressing you alone.

FEY/PALIN: Now I know it must be a little bit strange for all of you to see the two of us together. What with me being John McCain’s running mate.

POEHLER/CLINTON: And me being a fervent supporter of Senator Barack Obama, as evidenced by this button.

FEY/PALIN: But tonight we are crossing party lines to address the now very ugly role that sexism is playing in the campaign.

POEHLER/CLINTON: An issue which I am frankly surprised to hear people suddenly care about.

FEY/PALIN: You know, Hillary and I don’t agree on everything…

POEHLER/CLINTON: (OVERLAPPING) Anything. I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.

FEY/PALIN: And I can see Russia from my house.

POEHLER/CLINTON: I believe global warming is caused by man.

FEY/PALIN: And I believe it’s just God hugging us closer.

POEHLER/CLINTON: I don’t agree with the Bush Doctrine.

FEY/PALIN: I don’t know what that is.

POEHLER/CLINTON: But, Sarah, one thing we can agree on is that sexism can never be allowed to permeate an American election.

FEY/PALIN: So, please, stop photoshopping my head on sexy bikini pictures.

POEHLER/CLINTON: And stop saying I have cankles.

FEY/PALIN: Don’t refer to me as a “MILF.”

POEHLER/CLINTON: And don’t refer to me as a “Flurge.” I Googled what it stands for and I do not like it.

FEY/PALIN: So, we ask reporters and commentators, stop using words that diminish us, like “pretty,” “attractive,” “beautiful.”

POEHLER/CLINTON: “Harpy,” “shrew,” and “boner shrinker.”

FEY/PALIN: While our politics may differ, my friend and I are both very tough ladies. You know it reminds me of a joke we tell in Alaska. What’s the difference—

POEHLER/CLINTON: Lipstick.

FEY/PALIN: …between a hockey mom—

POEHLER/CLINTON: Lipstick.

FEY/PALIN: …and a pitbull?

POEHLER/CLINTON: Lipstick.

FEY/PALIN: (PAUSE) Lipstick. Just look at how far we’ve come. Hillary Clinton, who came so close to the White House. And me, Sarah Palin, who is even closer. Can you believe it, Hillary?

POEHLER/CLINTON: (PAUSE) I cannot.

FEY/PALIN: It’s truly amazing, and I think women everywhere can agree that no matter your politics, it’s time for a woman to make it to the White House.

POEHLER/CLINTON: No! Mine! It’s supposed to be mine! I need to say something. I didn’t want a woman to be President. I wanted to be President, and I just happen to be a woman. And I don’t want to hear you compare your road to the White House to my road to the White House. I scratched and clawed through mud and barbed wire, and you just glided in on a dog sled wearing your pageant sash and your Tina Fey glasses.

FEY/PALIN: What an amazing time we live in. To think that just two years ago, I was a small town mayor of Alaska’s crystal meth capitol. And now I am just one heartbeat away from being President of the United States. It just goes to show that anyone can be President.

- 9-27-08


- Related Posts:

• SNL's Tina Fey Spoofs Palin, VP Debate: Transcript, Video (10-4-08)

Palin solo in Carson City, Nevada: Transcript (9-13-08)

VP nominee Sarah Palin gave a speech by herself in Nevada on Saturday. Read the full transcript.

We're going to take our case for reform, that needed reform in DC to voters of every background in every party -- or no party at all. And with your vote, we're going to Washington, not embracing status- quo-politics-as-usual again, we're going to shake things up! (Cheers, applause.)

John McCain is a guy who has been through a few tough fights before. He wore the uniform of our country for 22 years -- (cheers) -- five of those years as a POW. He's served America in good times and in bad and he, like you, like me, always proud to be an American. (Cheers, applause.)

John McCain knows what it takes to overcome great challenges. And for the job of leading our country and winning the war, he is the only man in this race who's got what it takes. (Cheers, applause.) At a decisive moment in the course of the war, remember it was John McCain who refused to break faith with our troops who have now brought victory in Iraq right within sight! (Cheers, applause.)

And as the mother of one of those troops, that's exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. (Cheers, applause.)

I know I'm not the only one, either. I want to applaud our moms over here, the Blue Ribbon moms. Our hearts are united. Thank you so much for serving our country in your special way. Thank you, moms! (Cheers, applause.) Thank you! And our hearts are united.

Nevada, this is a moment when principles and political independence mean a heck of a lot more than a party line. John McCain doesn't run with the Washington herd. He's willing to shake things up in Washington, and that's why we need to take the maverick of the Senate and bring him to the White House! (Cheers, applause.)

Senator McCain has called the two of us a team of mavericks because he knows that we've done some shaking up up there in Alaska. As mayor, I shook up the old system and had to take on the good old boys. I reminded people there that government is not always the answer. In fact, too often, government is the problem! (Cheers, applause.) So we got back to basics, and we put government back on the side of the people.

What we did up there -- I eliminated taxes on personal property, and I eliminated taxes that were hurting our small businesses, like business inventory taxes. (Cheers, applause.) Property taxes were too high. We already had a sales tax. Property taxes were too high, so we cut rates every year that I was in office. And those reforms worked, and our community took off. Wonderful economic indicators of success when you let the people keep their own money! (Cheers, applause.)

As governor then, I brought the same agenda of positive change. We took on the old politics-as-usual in Juneau. The old oil company monopoly that had really controlled our state, we broke it. And the good-old-boy network of lobbyists and special interests that used to run things, whatever they're running now, it's not the state of Alaska! (Cheers, applause.) And nearly half a billion dollars in wasteful, excessive spending, well, that's what vetoes are for. (Cheers, applause.)

Stocks set to Plunge after Fall of Lehman Bros.

This is extremely dangerous. We need to wake up to the disaster that is looming. The press should be treating it like hurricane Ike and Hanna - nonstop coverage. This is a crisis. If we don't respond, we will see events far worse than 9-11. You don't believe me just ask the man who ran the economy for over a decade, Alan Greenspan. He says it's a "once-in-a-century" financial crisis.

U.S. stocks headed for a sharply lower open and Treasury bond prices soared Monday as investors reacted to a stunning reshaping of the landscape of Wall Street. A series of events took out two storied names Sunday: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co.

Stocks posted sharp losses in markets across much of the globe as investors absorbed a bankruptcy filing by Lehman and Merrill Lynch's forced sale to Bank of America for $50 billion in stock. And perhaps most ominously, American International Group Inc. is asking the Federal Reserve for emergency funding. The world's largest insurance company plans to announce a major restructuring Monday.

The swift developments are the biggest yet in the 14-month-old credit crises that stems from now toxic subprime mortgage debt.

Investors are worried that trouble at AIG and the bankruptcy filing by Lehman, felled by $60 billion in bad debt and a dearth of investor confidence, will touch off another series of troubles for banks and financial institutions. Wall Street had been hopeful six months ago that the collapse of Bear Stearns would mark the darkest day of the credit crisis.

But many market observers have said for months that a cathartic sell-off is necessary for Wall Street to purge its worries over bad debt and the tight credit conditions that have hobbled the economy. A scare and subsequent sell-off in the markets could establish conditions for a market bottom to form.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 372, or 3.3 percent, to 11,086. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 48.00, or 3.81 percent, to 1,210.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 49.25, or 2.8 percent, to 1,730.25.

Bond prices surged as investors fled to the security of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, plunged to 3.50 percent from 3.72 percent late Friday. The dollar was lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Markets in Tokyo and several other Asian money centers were closed for holidays. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 3.64 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 3.33 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 4.37 percent. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Swiss central bank stepped in an attempt to calm markets by making more short-term credit available to banks.

Light, sweet crude dropped $4.43 to $96.75 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after damage to Gulf of Mexico oil infrastructure from Hurricane Ike was less than Wall Street feared. Worries about a slower economy have also weighed on oil prices in recent weeks. Oil is down sharply from its mid-July highs when it hit a record over $147 a barrel.

But despite the pullback in oil, prices the gas pump rose above $5 per gallon in some parts of the country Sunday after Ike left some the nation's refining capacity inoperable.

McCain-Palin Sexist, Anti-Press Strategy is Failing

The McCain, with the selection of Sarah Palin as the vp, was to gain the woman vote. They hoped they could win over the so-called disenchanted Hillary vote. They are also playing the sexist card anytime the press asks Ms.Palin a tough question. The press is beginning to catch on to the ploy. And the initial incitement over Ms.Palin's selection is fading.

Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, criticized the media at a weekend fundraiser, telling supporters that the hosts of The View “picked our bones clean.”

"In spite of what you see …in the newspapers, and on shows like The View — I don't know if any of you saw The View yesterday, they picked our bones clean — in spite of what you see, that's not what the American people are saying and what they are believing," said McCain, in a recording obtained by ABC News. "They are now seeing a clear difference with these candidates, and they are seeing who is going to make the best president, and that's why we're pulling ahead."

[...]John McCain had a tough exchange with the hosts of The View during a recent appearance, during which he was pressed on the credentials of running mate Sarah Palin, claims in his campaign ads that co-host Joy Behar called “lies,” and how many houses he and his wife own.

If the election were held today, Barack Obama would have enough electoral votes to win. And that total win only increase as the Palin effect fades. The polls are already trending in Obama's direction. It doesn't help McCain that Obama raised a record $66 million last month.

Even Rove admits that McCain ads are less than truthful.

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove suggested Sunday that John McCain had gone “one step too far” in some of his recent ads attacking Barack Obama.

Rove has leveled similar criticism against Obama. “McCain has gone in some of his ads — similarly gone one step too far,” he told Fox News, “and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the ‘100 percent truth’ test.”

The Obama campaign immediately leaped on the quote. "In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove — the man who held the previous record — said McCain's ads have gone too far," said campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, in a statement sent to reporters minutes after Rove’s on-air comments.

Female Surrogates on Face The Nation: Transcript (9-14-08)

Women surrogates for the two presidential candidates debated on Face The Nation. Read the full transcript (pdf).

SCHIEFFER: Congresswoman Schultz, has she been asked to clear some bar that a male candidate wouldn't have been asked to clear?

Representative DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (Democrat, Florida): That's just utterly ridiculous. When you have a question about a female candidate's family and whether they are going to be able to, you know, balance work and family, then I think that Governor Swift is absolutely right, that that's out of bounds. I've been asked that question as a mom trying to juggle both things and, you know, typically a male--a male candidate wouldn't get asked that. But all Sarah Palin is being asked to respond to is whether she's up to the task, and it is absolutely fair game. And all I've seen is her being asked about her background, her experience, what qualifies her to be vice president and whether she knows anything. So the tough questions that have been asked of Sarah Palin thus far just have been about the fact that she doesn't know anything and isn't ready to be vice president. That's fair game and it has nothing to do with her gender.

SCHIEFFER: You're saying she doesn't know anything, or you're saying that's what she's been asked about?

Rep. SCHULTZ: Well, she's been asked what she knows. She's been asked to demonstrate her foreign policy knowledge, which she clearly has very little based on the Charlie Gibson interview. I mean, she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was, she really had almost no grasp of America's foreign policy. She really knew very little about domestic policy. Quite honestly, the interview that I saw and that Americans saw on Thursday and Friday were similar to when I didn't read a book in high school and had to read the CliffsNotes and phone in my--and phone in my report. She's Cliff-noted her performance so far, and all of that is fair game. The American people deserve better than that. They don't deserve more of the same, which is what they're getting from John McCain and Sarah Palin right now.

Alaska Officials on FOX News Sunday: Transcript (9-14-08)

Read the partial transcript of Chris Wallace's interview of the former Governor, Tony Knowles.

WALLACE: Governor Knowles, two years ago when you were running against Palin, you campaigned against her as an untested mayor of a small town. The voters of Alaska didn't agree with you then. Why should the voters of America believe you now when you say she's not ready?

KNOWLES: Well, Chris, the McCain-Palin ticket has embraced the economics and foreign policy of George Bush. I believe that's the wrong direction of the country.

And when Senator McCain chose Governor Palin to be his running mate, it was on the basis that it was going to represent change. And he represented two specific areas that need to be reformed that he looked to Governor Palin to lead, and that was change in regards to wasteful spending and pork barrel, and also in terms of ethics.

But there are serious questions about the stand that Senator (sic) Palin has taken on so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," which she's always supported and which actually she still continues to support on...

WALLACE: Well, we're going to — we're going to get into all of those specifics. But just real briefly, Governor Knowles, why is she not ready to be president?

KNOWLES: Well, the question, I think — and most people feel that on the surface that there has been no vice president that is less prepared in modern history.

But we need to look at what a person does in office, not so — not so much how long they hold an office. And despite the brief time, the case needs to be made on the issues.

WALLACE: All right. We're going to get to...

KNOWLES: And it's on the issues...

WALLACE: Governor Knowles, we're going to get to those in a minute, but let me bring in Lieutenant Governor Parnell.

It's obviously a big jump from mayor of Wasilla to governor. It's a much bigger jump from governor of Alaska to potential president.

Governor Palin says she's never met a foreign leader. She seems not to have thought a great deal about foreign policy. Why do you think she's ready to be commander in chief in a time of war?

PARNELL: You know, Governor Palin is absolutely ready to lead. She's the only candidate who has executive branch experience.

She's the governor of the state that supplies 20 percent of America's oil. I mean, she knows what energy independence is all about, because we're working to provide oil and gas both here locally in Alaska as well as to the rest of the states. She's absolutely ready to lead.

WALLACE: Governor Knowles, one — as you pointed out, one of the central reasons that John McCain picked Palin was because he said that she has a record as a reformer.

Now, I know you're an opponent, but doesn't she have quite a history of going up against the establishment of her own party and against the interests of the big oil lobby?

KNOWLES: Well, just let me just say, again, both McCain and Palin have endorsed the economics and foreign policy of George Bush. So how do they make themselves agents of change and reform?

And they point to Governor Palin's work in terms of not accepting money for the so-called "Bridges to Nowhere." First of all, to get the record straight on that, she did not turn back the money to it.

There were two "Bridges to Nowhere," and one of them, the largest project — and regardless of the merits of the issue, regardless of the merits, she is continuing to support one of the so-called "Bridges to Nowhere," which is across from Anchorage to Point McKenzie.

So it's entirely false that she — it's misrepresentation of the record.

Second of all, ethics was also a reform issue that she has been turned to, and yet we have a situation right now in Alaska where she is under the cloud of investigation for an ethics complaint that has been made...

Maureen Dowd: Palin Like George Bush in 2000

Read the complete article from Maureen Dowd on Palin.

I’ve been in Alaska only a week, but I’m already feeling ever so much smarter about Russia.

I can’t quite see it from my hotel window, but, hey, I know it’s out there somewhere, beyond all the stuffed bears and cruise ships and glaciers and oil derricks.

The proximity of the country from which William Seward bartered to buy Alaska for $7 million — Seward’s icebox — is so illuminating that I suddenly realize that we would commit a grave error by overestimating Russia’s economic strength. After all, it represents only 2.8 percent of the world’s G.D.P., even though its gross domestic product has ballooned from $200 billion in 1999 to $1.7 trillion this year.

But I overanalyze.

An Arctic blast of action has swept into the 2008 race, making thinking passé. We don’t really need to hurt our brains studying the world; we just need the world to know we’re capable of bringing a world of hurt to the world if the world continues to be hell-bent on misbehaving.

Two weeks after being thrown onto a national ticket, and moments after being speed-briefed by McCain foreign-policy advisers, our new Napoleon in bunny boots (not the Pamela Anderson kind, but the knock-offs of the U.S. Army Extreme Cold Weather Vapor Barrier Boots) is ready to face down the Russkies and start a land war over Georgia, and, holy cow, what business is it of ours if Israel attacks Iran?

The trigger-happy John McCain has indeed found a soul mate. Trigger squared. In Fairbanks on Thursday, at a deployment ceremony for her son who is going to Iraq, Governor Palin followed the lead of McCain and W. in fusing Osama bin Laden’s diabolical work on 9/11 and the mission in Iraq. She told the departing troops, “You’ll be there to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the deaths of thousands of Americans.”

Asked by Charlie Gibson what insight into Russian actions her Alaskan proximity gave her, Sarah blithely replied: “They’re our next-door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”

Meet The Press Transcript (9-14-08)

Obama and McCain surrogates Rudolph Giuliani and Charles Schumer were on Meet the Press this week. Also appearing was Bob Woodward talking about his book critical of George Bush's conduct of the Iraq War. Read the full transcript.

MR. BROKAW: Here's some of the internals in the Newsweek poll. For example, white women. John McCain has a commanding lead among white women, 53 to 37 percent.

We want to take you now to the AP poll. This is the latest poll from the Associated Press and GFK. McCain has a 13 point lead on senior citizens, and he has the same lead among males. Among rural voters, he's up by 23 percent. These are middle-class voters in rural areas, and a large part of the Obama strategy is to try to win in areas like North Dakota and Montana and the Rocky Mountain West, including the state of Colorado. He has significant work to do--to be done there.

SEN. SCHUMER: Yes, but I think the McCain campaign, which did, did a good of sort of turning around the battleship at the convention, going from experience to change, there's a fundamental flaw. John McCain and Sarah Palin do not represent change. They are, particularly on domestic issues but also on foreign policy, a continuation of George Bush's policies. And as the voters learn that--they'll learn them in the debates, they'll learn them now as the excitement of the conventions subsides--I, I think Barack Obama is going to--he's even now in the overall polls--he will break into a substantial lead. The kind of sort of nasty, small-bore, little attacks, they work decently well when America's happy, when America's satisfied, as it was in 2004 and 2000. They're not going to work now because the average middle-class person in America wants change. McCain and Palin do not represent change. Obama and Biden do. And we're glad. Actually, the critics will look back a month from now and say a big mistake of the McCain campaign was to switch the battlefield to change because that is Obama-Biden's strong suit.

[...]MR. BROKAW: Senator Obama, who had an Ivy-league education and could've gone to Wall Street, went back to Chicago on the South Side. As you know, his supporters have defended him for working with poor families, many of whom lost their jobs when the Gary steel mills closed. In that mocking fashion, it seemed to a lot of people that you were belittling the role of a community organizer, and it led to this button. It was addressed to Senator Palin, because she also talked about it. "Jesus Christ was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor." In retrospect, do you think you had too much sport with his role as community organizer, Mr. Mayor?

MAYOR GIULIANI: No. No. I think he had too, too little of a record of a community organizer. The point is that Senator Obama's record as a community organizer is a very sparse one, as is his record as a state senator. Education Week said that he basically had no record on education, which is why maybe Senator McCain's idea of an accomplishment in that ad goes a little bit too far.

What I was talking about is how little a record he had, how so, how so many of those programs have failed, how little it's been really looked at by the media. This is--and also, the group that recruited him was a Saul Alinsky group that has all kinds of questions with regard to their outlook on the economy, their outlook on capitalism. I think it's at the core of Senator Obama's belief that the tax system should be used for a redistribution of wealth, rather than really for gaining revenues for the country. When, when Senator Obama was asked about his increase in capital gains tax and was told that if he does that, he would actually deprive the federal government of revenues, his answer was, "Well, it's only fair." Which gets you to a very core Saul Alinsky kind of almost socialist notion that it should be used for redistribution of wealth.

I think what we haven't done adequately in this, in this campaign, meaning Republicans, is maybe some of the emphasis on some of these other issues, it should be on the fact that Senator Obama is the most left-wing candidate the Democratic Party has ever had, the most liberal member of the Senate, much more liberal than Senator Schumer, than you just had on. And his running mate, Senator Biden, is the third most liberal member of the Senate. So these are the things we're talking about. And the community organizer thing was consistent with that kind of very left-wing approach. Sure community organizers do good work, and some don't do very good work. Just like lawyers, everybody else. The question is what kind of work did, did Barack Obama do and how effective was it long-term? A lot of those housing projects failed.

Obama, McCain Community Service Forum Transcript (9-11-08)

Both John McCain and Barack Obama were interviewed before an audience at a forum sponsored by TIME and hosted by Columbia University. The topic related to the question of national service and how they further it during their presidencies if elected. Read the full transcript.
Obama:

Well, look, the— the— I— I think— those are old arguments. Let— let’s look to the future. The fact is that we have to have government. When— a hurricane strikes, as it did— with Katrina— we have to have a FEMA that works, which by the way means that we should be encouraging young people, the best and the brightest, to get involved as civil servants, to pursue careers of public service, so we’ve got people who are trained in fe— federal emergency management who are able to take on the job.

Now, that does not crowd out the Red Cross. That doesn’t crowd out the thousands of church groups that’s went down there. What it means is, is that each— area has a role to play. The Peace Corps— does not crowd out opportunities for— service overseas.

You’ve got churches— and synagogues and mosques all across the country that are per— deeply involved in— efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS and malaria and— all sorts of public health issues. And yet this is a matter where George Bush I think appropriately said we’re gonna make a commitment as the wealthiest nation on earth to deal with the devastation of AIDS.

And his PETFAR (?) program has been highly successful working with not-for-profits, working with governments, working both public and private in order to solve a problem. So there are more than enough problems out there to deal with. And it— what is true is we— we don’t need to set up bureaucracies. So I would— I would distinguish between a government assist in providing people avenues for service and a government bureaucracy in which the notion is, is that the only way that you can serve is through some defined government program.

McCain:

RICHARD STENGEL:

Senator, as recently as this past Sunday you talked very openly about the fact that Americans should have been asked to do more than go shopping or traveling. What would you have done as president in those circumstances to make people aware of what they should do as Americans after 9/11?

JOHN MCCAIN:

Well, first all, I would have a— called them to serve. I would have created organizations ranging from neighborhood block watch, to making sure that our nuclear power plants are secure, to— immediately proposing the Congressional legislation such as Senator Evan Bayh and I— proposed of service to country to create additional organizations, to expand Americor, expand the Peace Corps, expand the military. Obviously we were facing a new threat.

Obviously we needed to, at that time, take advantage of the unity in the United States of America. We weren’t Republicans on September 11th. We weren’t Democrats. We were Americans. And I think that if we had asked for a concrete plan of action, both on the part of federal, state, and local governments, as well as by the Congress of the United States, as well as, frankly, talking directly to the American people— yeah, the need for us all to— to serve this nation. I think perhaps we—

But, you know, I gotta tell you something, Rick. I— when I travel around this country, that spirit is still there in America. Today we’ve seen Americans respond in a way that only Americans do. And I don’t say that with any sense of superiority over any other group of people.

But I do believe we’re a unique nation and blessed with certain inalienable rights that we wanna extend to the rest of the world. But I think that— (NOISE) that we— we probably still have that opportunity. And when I say this I don’t want you to take it the wrong way. But Americans are so frustrated now with our government. Eight-four percent of the American people think the country’s headed in the wrong direction.

The approval rating is— of Congress is down to nine percent, I believe, down to blood relatives and paid staffers. (LAUGHTER) And— and this is an opportunity. This is an opportunity to lead the nation and talk to the American people and reform our government and ask for more service.

Obama Dover, New Hampshire Speech Transcript (9-12-08)

Read the full transcript of Barack Obama's speech in Dover, New Hampshire Friday.

The good news is that in 53 days, the name George Bush will not be on the ballot. But make no mistake: his policies will. A few weeks ago, John McCain said that the economy is "fundamentally strong," and a few days later George Bush said the same thing. In fact, Senator McCain has said that we made "great progress economically" over the last eight years.

And here's the thing. I think they truly believe it. After all, my opponent said just last night, "It's easy for me to go to Washington and frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have." So from where he and George Bush sit, maybe they just can't see. Maybe they are just that out of touch. But you know the truth, and so do I.

For eight years, we've failed to keep that American promise that if you work hard you can live your American Dream. Under the Bush economic policies that my opponent supported and promises to continue, the average family has seen their income drop by $2,000-a-year, while the cost of everything from gas to groceries has gone up. We have the highest unemployment rate in five years. Home values have plummeted. It's harder to save and it's harder to retire. Those are the day-to-day challenges that people have.

We can't afford four more years of this so-called "progress." We can't afford another President who is so out of touch that he thinks the economy is strong and that change is doing the exact same thing as George Bush.

That's what Senator McCain is offering. More of the discredited theory that if you shower benefits on big corporations, special interests and the wealthiest of the wealthy, it will all come trickling down to the middle class. Well, Dover, how much of that has trickled down to you? How much has trickled down to the Americans who have lost their jobs and their homes? How much has trickled down to the family that can't afford to pay next month's bills or the kids who can't afford college? We've tried this for eight years, and we can't afford to keep trying it for another four.

We can't afford to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a surplus. We can't afford more of the same addiction to oil. More of the same health care policy that only works for the healthy and wealthy. More of the same Washington lobbyists who run John McCain's campaign. More of the same Bush-Rove-McCain politics that tries to distract you from policies that are destroying the middle class.

We've tried that way. It won't work. And yet Senator McCain stubbornly holds to it. The only change he offers is completing the Bush agenda. Privatizing your Social Security. Taxing your health benefits. And another $200 billion of budget-busting tax breaks for corporations like Exxon-Mobil that have just turned in the greatest profits in history, while you can barely afford to fill up a tank of gas.

Sarah Palin 20/20 Interview Transcript (9-12-08)

This is part 2 of Governor Palin's interview with ABC's Charles Gibson, but as part of a profile done on the '20/20' news program. Read the full transcript.

GIBSON: I -- I saw you quoted somewhere as speaking rather admiringly of -- of Mrs. Clinton, Senator Clinton, during the primary campaign. Do you think Obama should have picked her?

PALIN: I think he’s regretting not picking her now. I do. What determination and grit and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way. She -- she handled those well.

[...]Governor John McCain and you are now talking about the GOP as a party of change. We’ve got a very sick economy. Tell me the three principle things you would do to change the Bush economic policies.

PALIN: And you’re right. Our economy is weak right now, and we have got to strengthen it. And government can play an appropriate role in helping to strengthen the economy.

We need to put government back on the side of the people and make sure that it is not government solely looked at for all the solutions, for one.

Let me tell you what I did here in the city of Wasilla and then as governor of Alaska. What I did as a city council member then, and then as mayor, was come in, and we cut personal property taxes in Wasilla. We cut small business inventory taxes.

GIBSON: You raised the sales tax.

PALIN: No, well, we had a two percent sales tax. And when people came to local government and said, “We want a sports arena here,” I said, “That’s fine, and I want a sports arena also, but we’re going to have to pay for it.”

GIBSON: I didn’t want to get off into Wasilla, but you came into the city with a debt-free city and left it with considerable millions of dollars of debt, didn’t you?

PALIN: A $13 million sports arena that we bonded for, but, see, we put government on the side of the people by asking them if that’s what they wanted. It was a question on the ballot, and they got to vote yes or no. So that’s what we did.

We eliminated small business inventory taxes. I eliminated things like business license renewal fees on our small businesses. Those economic indicators of success on a local level should provide to America that worldview that I have of what we can do on a local level, and then a state level, where we just suspended our fuel tax in our state also.

Get taxes under control, but at the same time we’re cutting taxes, you got to reduce the growth of government.

GIBSON: Well, I want to come back to the question. I want to know, because you’ve advertised yourselves now as the party of change. I want to know what you would change in the Bush economic principles.

What you said to me at the beginning I don’t think anybody in the Bush administration would disagree with. What do you change in the Bush economic plans?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that we reform the oversight also of the agencies, including the quasi-government agencies like Freddie and Fannie, those things that have created an atmosphere here in America where people are fearful of losing their homes.

People are looking at job loss. People are looking at unaffordable health care for their families. We have got to reform the oversight of these agencies that have such control over Americans’ pocketbooks.

McCain on 'The View' Transcript (9-12-08)

John McCain appeared on the TV talk program, 'The View' friday. Here is a partial transcript and videos. (2nd transcript) (FOXNews analysis) (Huffington Post)

Whoopi: Do you believe in the Separation of Church of State?

McCain: Sure, but God has a plan for the world and people can believe want they want. I happen to be spiritual. P.S. In God We Trust.

[...]ELISABETH HASSELBECK: There has also been a question burning amongst voters and actually our viewers, and that is the question of Roe v. Wade. And as president, if you were, no softballs coming from me, even though you have my vote. Would you as president work to overturn that? And then would Sarah Palin be working to overturn Roe v. Wade?

SENATOR JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): I think what we would be doing is appointing or nominating justices to the United States Supreme Court and other courts who strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States. We would not impose a litmus test on any issue because that’s not fair to the American people. But they would have to have a clear record of strict interpretation.

BARBARA WALTERS: That’s kind of the other way of saying people who would want to overturn Roe v. Wade.

McCAIN: That, that, well, that is saying that, I believe Roe v. Wade was a very bad decision, Barbara. [audience groans] I think it was a bad decision. I thought other, I thought other decisions of the United States Supreme Court were bad decisions. But I want people on the Court who, quote, "do interpret" and not just on the issue of Roe v. Wade, but on other issues.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Do I have to be worried about becoming a slave again?

McCAIN: My interpretation of the Constitution of the United States is that the United States Supreme Court enforces the Constitution of the United States and does not legislate nor invent areas that are responsibilities, according to the Constitution, of the legislative branch.

HASSELBECK: So it was in how the law came up, it was in how Roe v. Wade came apart was the issue. You, you want it to be through the Constitution from the people not from the bench.

McCAIN: And I believe that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, then the states would make these decisions.

GOLDBERG: Sir.

McCAIN: Yes?

GOLDBERG: Can you just, and I don’t want to misinterpret what you’re saying. Did you say you wanted strict Constitutionalists? Because that, that-

McCAIN: No, I want people who interpret the Constitution of the United States the way our founding fathers envision-...

Palin ABC News Interview Transcript (9-11-08)

Sarah Palin in an interview with Charlie Gibson contends we might need to go to war with Russia. Read the full transcript: Update:(part 2, 20/20 transcript)

GIBSON: Let's start, because we are near Russia, let's start with Russia and Georgia.

The administration has said we've got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we're going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain's running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep...

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals.That's why we have to keep an eye on Russia.

And, Charlie, you're in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They're very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they're doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I'm giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

Sarah Palin on Russia:

We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We've learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?


PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.