In a strongly worded email to supporters, Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe said last night’s Republican convention displayed “McCain’s attack squad of negative, cynical politicians” that lied, attacked, mocked, and insulted its way through a series of prime time speeches. Read the email - sent early this morning - below.

Friend –

I wasn’t planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw
what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a
response.

I saw John McCain’s attack squad of negative, cynical politicians.
They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for
being a part of this campaign.

But worst of all — and this deserves to be noted — they insulted
the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our
political process.

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say,
everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when
we come together. Make a donation of $5 or more right now to remind
them.

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack’s
experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more
than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs
and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.

Let’s clarify something for them right now.

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch
politicians and their failed policies.

And it’s no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions
of people have found that by coming together in their local
communities they can change the course of history. That promise is
what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

(more…)

Soon after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finished her speech Wednesday night, the Obama campaign sent out the following response:

“The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years.  If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90% of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10% chance on change,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Responding to speeches given by President Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman, the Obama camp released the following statement:

“At a time when millions of Americans are struggling like never before to pay their mortgage, their medical bills, and their gas bills, tonight’s speakers at John McCain’s Republican convention proved how out of touch their candidate is by saying not one word about his plans to put our economy back on track and provide real relief to middle-class families. Apparently, John McCain’s belief that we’ve made ‘great progress’ economically over the last eight years means he doesn’t have to offer any plans at all to fix our ailing economy,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

John McCain’s campaign certainly did not ignore Barack Obama’s “bitter” remarks over the weekend, but the candidate himself did not publicly respond to them since he spent the weekend away from the press at his home in Arizona.

Today McCain acknowledged his Democratic rival’s remarks for the first time, while addressing the AP’s Annual Convention in Washington, DC. “Before I take your questions, I would like to respond briefly to the comments one of my opponents made the other day about the psychology and political mindset of Americans living in small towns and other areas that have experienced the loss of industrial jobs,” McCain began. Rather than attack Senator Obama for what his campaign called “elitist” and condescending remarks, McCain paid tribute to those some say Obama offended.

done

Referring to the generation that rose out of the Great Depression, McCain credited them for saving the world during WW2 and for building up the nation. “They suffered the worst during the Depression. But it had not shaken their faith in and fidelity to America and its founding political ideals. Nor had it destroyed their confidence that America and their own lives could be made better. Nor did they turn to their religious faith and cultural traditions out of resentment and a feeling of powerlessness to affect the course of government or pursue prosperity. On the contrary, their faith had given generations of their families purpose and meaning, as it does today. And their appreciation of traditions like hunting was based in nothing other than their contribution to the enjoyment of life,” McCain said.

McCain also insinuated Senator Obama’s remarks were directed at those who defend this nation in times of war. “They are the heart and soul of this country, the foundation of our strength and the primary authors of its essential goodness. They are our inspiration, and I look to them for guidance and strength. No matter their personal circumstances, they believed in this country. They revered its past, but most importantly they believed in its future greatness, a greatness they themselves would create. They never forgot who they were, where they came from, and what is possible in America, a country founded on an idea and not on class, ethnic or sectarian identity. And America must not and will not forget them.”

Later during the question and answer period of his Washington, DC, event, Associated Press reporters asked McCain point blank if he thought Obama was an elitist. “I don’t know,” McCain replied. “I think those comments are elitist,” he said, adding that Obama’s view is  “a fundamental contradiction” of how he sees America.

When pressed if Obama’s elitist remarks make him an elitist, McCain admitted, “I don’t know because I don’t know him very well.” McCain stated that he looked forward to the debate between himself and his Democratic rival, whomever that may be. “I wish it wasn’t so, wish the debate wasn’t so protracted, but certainly I look forward to it,” he said with a smile.

Just after 8:30pm on a balmy Friday night outside of San Antonio, Texas, Obama looked out at a see of some 8,000 spectators. He was midway through his stump speech and then decided to sock it to Hillary Clinton for running a new campaign ad entitled “Children” - or as it’s being referred to in media and political circles, the “Red Phone” ad because of its similarity to a 1984 ad with the same name run by Walter Mondale in 1984.

“I want to take a moment to respond to an ad that Senator Clinton put up today,” Obama stated as the crowd began to jeer.  “We’ve seen these ads before. They’re usually the kind that play on people’s fears and try to scare up votes. But it won’t work. Because the question is not about who’s picking up the phone – the question is what kind of judgment will the person who answers the phone have?”

Senator Obama has made his consistent anti-war voice an example of his judgment in the realm of all things foreign policy - and once again, his weapon of choice to attack Senator Clinton’s foreign policy experience is her vote for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002.

“Senator Clinton may not be aware, but we already had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton picked up the phone and gave the wrong answer. And John McCain picked up the phone and gave the wrong answer. And George Bush picked up the
phone and gave the wrong answer,” he said, not so subtly linking her decisions with those made by Republicans McCain and Bush.

“I stood up and I said this war in Iraq would cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives. I said it would distract us from the real threat we faced. That’s the judgment I made on the most important foreign policy decision of a generation and that’s the kind of judgment I’ll show when I pick up the phone at 3am in the morning!” he exclaimed to rousing applause.

He then wacked President Bush for good measure - always a crowd favorite at Democratic rallies. He promised he would use his judgment to provide, equip, and train troops and to “use them wisely and not deploy them because of some ideological bent that you were on, but because it is absolutely necessary to protect the United States of America – that’s the answer that I’ll give when somebody calls me on the phone at 3am in the morning!”

Obama ended his rant by saying he won’t scare up votes using the threat of terrorism. “I intend to make sure that we rally the country together, against our common enemies – that we’re distracted by politics when it comes to our national security. That’s the judgment that I intend provide when I’m president of the United States of America.”