The newly
nominated Democratic Party presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, and
his vice presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden, wasted no time after
their Denver nominating convention. They launched a bus tour of five states - Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan,
and Wisconsin - states seen as critical in winning the White House in
November. VOA's Jeffrey Young reports.
While the
Republican Party has been holding its nominating convention in St. Paul,
Minnesota, the Democrats have not been idle.
Democratic
presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, and his vice presidential running
mate, Senator Joe Biden have hit the road, with the U.S. economy as a central
theme.
On
Wednesday, Obama told voters at a campaign stop that the Republicans are
ignoring this serious issue.
Obama
says, "Last night when they were
speaking, all these speakers came up. You did not hear a single word about the
economy. Now, think about it. Not once did people mention the hardships people
are going through."
The Democrats made the economy, and their plans to fix it, a centerpiece of their convention last week in Denver.
After the
convention, Obama and Biden began their tour of important north central
industrial states where job losses have hit people hard.
Starting
out in Pennsylvania, Obama and Biden blasted the economic policies of the
Republicans and their presidential candidate, Senator John McCain.
Biden says,
"America is ready to get back up! America is ready to get back up! And
this is the man who will get it back up!"
Obama adds,
"John McCain just does not get what ordinary people here in Beaver,
Pennsylvania are going through."
The
Democrats then moved to the adjacent state of Ohio, where Obama told people
in the city of Toledo that John McCain's pick for vice president, Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin, shares this view on working women.
"She
is opposed, like John McCain is, to equal pay for equal work. That doesn't make
much sense to me," Obama said.
The
Democrats have so far not raised questions about Governor Palin's
qualifications to step in as president should something happen to John McCain,
if he were elected. She has been Alaska's governor for less than two years, her
only significant elected position.
After word
came out that Palin's 17 year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, is five months
pregnant, Obama refused to comment.
Obama says,
"I think people's families are off-limits. And people's children are
especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no
relevance."
He said the
problem with Sarah Palin is her policies which are wrong for America.
On Tuesday, Senator Biden broke away from the northern industrial states to visit a south Florida community, Deerfield Beach. There, he reassured elderly Jewish voters that Barack Obama stands for their issues.
Biden says, "In my gut and in my heart and in my head know that Barack Obama is exactly where I am on Israel."
But campaigning is more than rallies and speeches. Every campaign, like an army, travels on its stomach. And that means plenty of stops in cafes and diners to eat and shake hands with the people. Politicians hope those moments will lead to more votes on Election Day in November.