Albany, OR–

At a town hall this evening Senator Barack Obama was introduced by one of the superdelegates that endorsed him today in his flood of superdelegate gains. Oregon Congressman Pete DeFazio praised Obama and said that even though “pundits” may think differently Democrats would come together in November. He then quickly went after presumptive Republican nominee John McCain asking voters not to be “tempted” by McCain’s “Straight Talk Express.” He compared McCain to George Bush and Dick Cheney and even mentioned the Keating Five savings and loan scandal, “He says we need less regulation. Hello! Wall Street mortgage meltdown, Bear Stearns taxpayer bailout, Enron, but, you know, I guess maybe for a guy who was up to his neck in the Keating Five and savings and loan scandal–less regulation is better.”

When Obama took the stage he also said that Democrats would be united come Election Day telling voters not to worry about the party being divided, “Whatever else happens when we go into the polling place we know the name George W. Bush will not be on the ballot and we do not want any more repeats of George W. Bush. We will be united in making sure that doesn’t happen.”

He went on to attack John McCain and like DeFazio he compared him to President Bush, “The fact of the matter is that John McCain is running for a third George Bush term and that is something America can not afford right now. We cannot afford 4 more years of George Bush. We can’t afford it.”

Like Obama’s earlier town hall today the McCain camp was quick to issue a response—arriving in e-mail boxes before the candidate had even left the grounds:

“The truth is Barack Obama has pledged to increase taxes on American families, and his plans will make our struggling economy even worse. If Barack Obama is serious about addressing the economic downturn, why is he pledging to take more money out of the pockets of hardworking Americans?”