Palin and Hasselbeck blast 'ridiculous' wardrobe story
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) - Ensuring that news of the Republican National Committee's sartorial spending spree will remain in the headlines for at least one more news cycle, Sarah Palin on Sunday sounded off on the $150,000 wardrobe that was purchased for her in September, denouncing the report as "ridiculous" and declaring emphatically: "Those clothes, they are not my property."
A senior adviser to John McCain told CNN's Dana Bash that the comments about her wardrobe "were not the remarks we sent to her plane this morning." Palin did not discuss the wardrobe story at her rally in Kissimmee later in the day.
But in Tampa, Palin happily broached the clothing issue after being introduced by "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who accused Palin's opponents of being "fixated on her wardrobe" and "deliberately sexist."
That opened the door for Palin to weigh in on a topic that has frustrated the candidate and her advisers since the story first broke five days ago.
"This whole thing with the wardrobe, you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous, but I am glad now that Elisabeth brought it up, cause it gives me an opportunity without the filter of the media to get to tell you the whole clothes thing," she said.
"Those clothes, they are not my property. Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased, I'm not taking them with me. I am back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska. You'd think - not that I would even have to address the issue because, as Elisabeth is suggesting, the double standard here it's - gosh, we don't even want to waste our time."
Palin, however, forged on.
"I am glad, though, that she brought up accessories also. Let me tell you a little bit about a couple of accessories, didn't think that we would be talking about it, but my earrings - I see a Native Americans for Palin poster," she said. "These are beaded earrings from Todd's mom who is a Yupik Eskimo up in Alaska, Native American, Native Alaskan.
Obama to deliver 'closing argument' Monday
Barack Obama is expected to deliver a 'closing argument' speech Monday.(Getty Images)
(CNN)—The Obama campaign announced Sunday the Democratic nominee for president will deliver a 'closing argument' speech Monday focused on the differences between the two candidates.
Obama announced his candidacy almost two years ago, February 10, 2007 from the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois, the same place he introduced Sen. Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential pick on August 23, 2008.
In an email sent to reporters, the Obama campaign released the following statement:
"In his speech, Senator Obama will tell voters that after twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he’d do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy. Obama will ask Americans to help him change this country, and say that in just one week, they can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up, they can choose to invest in health care for our families and education for our kids and renewable energy for our future, and they can choose hope over fear, unity over division and the promise of change over the power of the status quo. "
Obama will deliver his speech from Canton, Ohio, a state both presidential candidates are hoping to win November 4.
Biden to anchor: 'Is that a real question?'
(CNN)— An interview Sen. Joe Biden did with an Orlando television station is making headlines Sunday, after the reporter asked if Sen. Barack Obama's now famous conversation with 'Joe the plumber' about 'spreading the wealth' made the Democratic nominee seem like he was adopting Marxist principles.
"You may recognize this famous quote," WFTV Anchor Barbara West told Biden on Thursday. "From each according to his abilities to each according to his needs, that's from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?"
Biden laughed himself out of the unusually tough interview asking in response, "are you joking? Is this a joke?"
"No," responds West.
"Is that a real question?" Biden continues.
"That's a question." West said.
With a chuckle, Biden firmly tells West, "He is not spreading the wealth around. He's talking about giving the middle class an opportunity to get back the tax breaks they used to have."
"We think middle class tax payers should get a break, that's what we think," Biden added. "That's a ridiculous comparison with all due respect."
Obama has responded numerous times since his October 12 meeting with Joe Wurzelbacher in Toledo, Ohio that the conversation was taken out of context.
Since the final presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, 'Joe the plumber' references have been a common line of attack from Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin - telling voters - Obama plans to tax the American people.
WFTV's news director told Conde Nast Portfolio.com that West had not been inappropriately tough, citing an even tougher interview she did with John McCain.
Fact Check: Would Obama's tax policy harm people with special needs?
The Statement:
During a speech Friday, Oct. 24, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gov. Sarah Palin noted that parents of children with special needs often set up trusts to help ensure long-term assistance. "Many families with special needs children or dependent adults" are concerned that Sen. Barack Obama "plans to raise taxes on precisely these kinds of financial arrangements," she said. "They fear that Senator Obama's tax increase will have serious and harmful consequences, and they're right."
Get the facts!
Ohio a must win for McCain
DAYTON, Ohio (CNN)– John McCain is back in Ohio today. He's holding rallies in Zanesville and Lancaster, in the central part of the state. Tomorrow McCain campaigns here in Dayton before heading east to Pennsylvania. But McCain is expected to be back in Ohio later in the week.
Why's Senator McCain (R-Arizona) spending so much time here? Because Ohio is a must-win state for McCain. He needs to hold onto the states that George W. Bush carried four years ago in his re-election for president. With McCain trailing Barack Obama in the polls in some of those states, like Virginia, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Carolina, it's essential for the Republican presidential nominee to hold on to Ohio and its 20 electoral votes.
"Obama can win without Ohio. McCain can't." says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider. He adds that "the Democrats’ strategy is to deny Ohio to McCain. No Republican presidential nominee has won the White House without Ohio."
The latest CNN Poll of Polls in Ohio suggests Obama has a five point lead, 49 percent to 44 percent, with 7 percent of voters undecided. The poll of polls is an average of the latest surveys in the state.
McCain won't have the state to himself. Obama campaigns in Canton, Ohio tomorrow, and expect him to make a return visit before election day on November 4th.
Poll Update: Obama up by 8
(CNN)–Sen. Barack Obama is holding onto his lead nationally according to the latest national CNN poll of polls.
A combination of six surveys shows Obama leading Sen. John McCain 51 percent to 43 percent, while 6 percent said they are still undecided.
The latest CNN national general election poll of polls consists of thefollowing surveys: A Newsweek poll conducted October 22 through 23, ABC/Washington Post poll conducted October 21 through 24, a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll conducted October 23 through 25, a Gallup poll conducted October 23 through 25, a Diageo/Hotline poll conducted October 23 through 25 and an IBD/TIPP poll conducted October 21 through 25.
The poll of polls does not have a sampling error.
HAPPENING NOW: McCain in Iowa
(CNN) - John McCain is campaigning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa this hour.
Watch the event on CNN.com/live
Obama says McCain 'finally giving us a little straight talk'
(CNN) - Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday that Sen. John McCain was now "owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common."
"Just this morning, Sen. McCain said that, actually, he and President Bush - 'share a common philosophy.' That's right, Colorado. I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk," Obama said at a rally in Denver.
Obama was referring to McCain's Sunday interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." NBC's Tom Brokaw pointed to a review of McCain's record, which showed he voted with Bush 92 percent of the time.
"So it's a little hard for the public to separate you from this administration, isn't it?" Brokaw said.
McCain highlighted times he has broken with the current administration, saying, "So do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course.
"But I've stood up against my party, not just President Bush, but others; and I've got the scars to prove it," he said. "Do I respect President Bush? Of course I respect him. But I pointed out we were on the wrong track in a whole lot of ways."
Obama said Sunday that in the final days of campaigning, voters can expect from the McCain campaign "the same kind of politics that we've seen over the last eight years. It's a politics that is more about tearing your opponent down than lifting your country up."
"We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch to John McCain," Obama said.
Update: McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds released the following statement in response:
“Barack Obama can’t name a single issue or philosophy on which he’s opposed the Democratic-controlled Congress – not one. John McCain opposed President Bush’s wasteful spending policy, his Big Oil energy policy and his efforts to grow the federal government by 40% – Obama supported Bush on all three," Bounds said.
HAPPENING NOW: Obama in Colorado
(CNN) - Barack Obama is campaigning in Denver, Colorado this hour.
Watch the event on CNN.com/live
Poll of Polls: Stark news for McCain in battleground states
(CNN)— With nine days left, a series of new battleground polls have some stark news for Sen. John McCain.
Georgia is shaping up to be a battleground state this election cycle, according to CNN's first poll of polls in the southern state.
The average of three surveys shows Sen. John McCain leading Sen. Obama by 6 points, 50 percent to 44 percent.
"McCain's six-point lead in Georgia is an extremely thin silver lining on an increasingly dark cloud for the GOP," said CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib. "Bush carried Georgia by 17 points four years ago. The Democratic upswing in Georgia mirrors the trend in most other states across the country. It is extremely hard to see McCain coming close to 270 electoral votes on Election Night if the current poll numbers - both on the national and state level - hold for the next nine days."
The Georgia poll of polls consists of three surveys: NBC/Mason-Dixon poll conducted October 22 and 23, a Research 2000 poll conducted October 14 and 15, and a CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted October 11 through 14.
Other new battleground state poll of polls show the same trend.
CNN Electoral Map Calculator: You call the race
CNN's latest Iowa poll of polls shows Obama leading McCain by 13 points, 52 percent to 39 percent, which is a six-point increase for the Illinois senator since the last Iowa poll of polls released in late September.
In Missouri, the latest CNN poll of polls shows the two presidential nominees locked in a dead heat, 46 percent to 46 percent, for the state's 11 electoral votes.
CNN's Missouri poll of polls consists of three surveys: NBC/Mason-Dixon poll conducted October 22 to 23, Research 2000 poll conducted October 20 through 23, and a Suffolk University poll conducted October 17 through 19.
Finally, the latest New Hampshire poll of polls has Obama ahead by 10 points 52 percent to 42 percent. That is a two-point increase for the Democratic nominee since the last New Hampshire poll of polls released just last week.
There is no sampling error for any of the CNN poll of polls.
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