IA: Obama responds to 'Celeb' ad
1:09 PM
From IowaPolitics.com:
During a town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids today, Democratic U.S. Sen. Barack Obama responded to John McCain's TV ad that called him a celebrity on par with the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.Read complete IowaPolitics.com coverage
"I do have to ask my opponent: Is that the best you can come up with?" Obama said. "Is that what is worthy of the American people?"
Obama said McCain's campaign had lapsed into "predictable political attacks [and] demonstrably false statements" instead of dealing with issues like high gas prices.
Obama said McCain's energy plan would help oil companies more than it would help consumers and would continue "the same cycle of dependence on big oil that got us into this crisis."
He touted aspects of his energy plan: direct energy rebates to taxpayers, increased fuel efficiency standards, a crackdown on oil speculators, $150 billion over 10 years to create "a new American energy sector" and an increase in domestic production by pushing oil companies to drill on the 68 million leased acres that are going unused.
Afterwards, Iowa GOP chairman Stewart Iverson called some of Obama's energy plans "absolutely absurd."
"Senator Obama says he wants energy independence but he's criticized every step we've taken to drill offshore, in addition to opposing nuclear power," Iverson said. "We are all behind alternative energy, but something is wrong with the picture if we aren't utilizing all of this oil at our disposal."
Read liberal writer John Deeth's live-blog of the event
