Thaindian News

Washington , Oct 27 (ANI): Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has reportedly played up a recent remark by his Republican rival John McCain, who said that he and US President George Bush shared a common philosophy.

McCains remark was immediately pounced on by Obama, underscoring what a McCain administration would be like. Addressing a gathering of more one lakh in Denver ‘’s downtown Civic Center Park on Sunday, Obama said: That’’s right, Colorado . I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common.

Obama, who has made tying the unpopular president to McCain the centerpiece of his campaign, said voters know the “Bush-McCain philosophy” served up tax breaks to the richest Americans and big corporations that ship jobs overseas and squanders 10 billion dollars a month on the war in Iraq while middle-class families in the US suffer economic hardship.

Earlier during the day, in a “Meet the Press” programme, McCain had acknowledged that while he and Bush both subscribe to basic Republican Party tenets, he had repeatedly disagreed with Bush and other Republicans. He listed campaign finance, global warming, ballooning spending and immigration as issues on which he’’s fought some in his party. I could go down a long list of issues with you. 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, the Washington Times quoted him as saying.

According to the paper, McCains claim of common ground with Bush, as well as the President’’s casting an early ballot for the Arizona senator, reinforced Obama’’s argument that his rival is allied with Bush administration policies that many voters blame for the country’’s economic turmoil.

For eight years, we”ve seen the Bush-McCain philosophy put our country on the wrong track, and we cannot have another four years that look just like the last eight,” Obama said and added It’’s time for change in Washington, and that’’s why I”m running for president of the US.

Responding to Obamas dig at McCain, the Republican National Committee (RNC) said that Obama shared a common philosophy with the leaders of the Democrat-led Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the Financial Services Committee chairman, who recently advocated raising taxes and cutting defense spending by 25 percent.

Unlike McCain, Obama has never broken with his partys leadership,” RNC spokesman Alex Conant said and added If elected president, it’s clear Obama would be little more than a rubber-stamp for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi’s tax-and-spend agenda. (ANI)