Biden points to Obama's 'steady hands'
Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008 12:00 PM by Carrie Dann
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
ROCHESTER, NH – Previewing today’s dueling major speeches at the top of the ticket,
Joe Biden argued that
Barack Obama will show he wants to fix the economy, while
John McCain is more interested in playing more politics.
“It looks like John McCain’s entire speech is gonna be attack, attack, attack, attack,” Biden said. “It couldn’t be clearer to me what’s going on here. John McCain wants to attack Barack Obama and Barack Obama wants to [tackle] the problems that face America today.”
Speaking in the Granite State, Biden acknowledged McCain’s favored status here. And, he argued, McCain should have had a built-in advantage in times of crisis because he is a “war hero.” But he’s squandered that by his behavior, Biden said.
“John’s hands have been anything but certain in the last year,” he said. “The McCain administration would be uncertain, clinging to the past, lurching from one bad idea to another. … In a New England sense, it’s about a steady hand. It really is about a steady hand and good ideas. Because this is not beyond our capacity. This is not beyond our capacity to turn this country around. And ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama has steady hands.”
Republicans reacted by, for the first time, invoking the scandal that ended Biden's 1988 presidential campaign, saying that the Democrats' plan "mirrors the proposals that President Hoover implemented at the onset of the Great Depression."
"It's plagiarism of the very worst economic policies in American history," McCain spokesperson Ben Porritt said in a statement.
Biden's speech at the American Legion Hall began by noting that there were “two big worries” here. Of course, the economy was one concern across the nation. The other might be more specific to Red Sox Nation, which of course, includes New Hampshire.
“My Phillies didn’t do too well last night,” the Delaware senator said. “But I understand we got our priorities: first, Josh Beckett’s arm, and second, the economy.”