Obama
criticises 'ugly' tactics
US Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama has attacked his rival for negative
campaigning in the final days before the election.
Mr Obama, appearing in Nevada, said the "ugly phone calls, the
misleading mail and TV ads, the careless, outrageous comments" were
preventing change.
Republican rival John McCain, aware of being behind in the polls as
he spoke in New Mexico, said he was a "fighter".
He told supporters not to give up hope of a White House victory.
Both candidates were campaigning in western US states during the
weekend.
Nevada, New Mexico and Colarado were all Republican at the last
election but could prove crucial if the vote is tight on 4 November.
Mr Obama, returning to the campaign trail after two days off in
which he flew to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, said a negative
campaign was not what the country needed.
"In the final days of campaigns, the say-anything, do-anything
politics too often takes over. We've seen it before. And we're
seeing it again today," he told a rally.
"Well, this isn't what we need right now.
"The American people don't want to hear politicians attack each
other - you want to hear about how we're going to attack the
challenges facing middle-class families each and every day."
During his own rally in New Mexico, Mr McCain had attacked Mr
Obama's tax policy as "re-distributing wealth" which would badly
impact on the middle class.
Mr McCain told supporters to "stand up and fight. America's worth
fighting for."
With a poll for Newsweek putting him 13 percentage points behind Mr
Obama, Mr McCain said: "I will never allow this nation to be
defeated ... my friends, we've got them just where we want them.
"We love being the underdog and we're going to win! What America
needs now is a fighter."
Attempting to distance himself from President George W Bush, Mr
McCain said: "We cannot spend the next four years as we have much of
the last eight, hoping for our luck to change at home and abroad."
While campaigning on Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr McCain's
vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said her criticism of Obama
had not been negative.
"Don't be made to feel guilty. I'm not feeling guilty," she said as
calls of "he's a socialist" were heard from the crowd.
Source:BBC
|