Sep 9, 2008 9:10 am US/Pacific
Biden: Only McCain Would Think Economy Is Good
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) ―
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Sen. Joe Biden greets supporters during a rally with US Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama at Dublin Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio, Aug. 30, 2008.
US Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice Presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden, speak to the media regarding Hurricane Gustav while standing in front of their bus after holding a rally at Dublin Coffman High Sch/Getty Images
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Tuesday that only Republican John McCain would think that Missouri is enjoying good economic times.
"I could walk from here to Springfield and I don't think I'd find a single, solitary person on the way who felt the economy was robust, strong and doing great unless I ran into John McCain along the way," Biden said during a town-hall forum at a fitness and recreation center.
Missouri, a swing state in the presidential election, is suffering through its highest unemployment rate in 17 years, 6.4 percent in July. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been running TV ads in Missouri highlighting a McCain comment that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
"There's too much anxiety, there's too much lack of sense of what is going to happen," Biden said. "I understand, Barack understands, but, unfortunately, John McCain doesn't understand."
Biden called for an end to corporate tax deferrals, which he said allows businesses to avoid or delay paying federal income taxes on some products produced offshore but sold in the United States. He highlighted Obama's plan to waive income taxes for senior citizens earning up to $50,000 annually and to provide tax credits of up to $4,000 of college costs for students who perform community service.
Missouri is a historic bellwether state, voting for every winning presidential candidate except one in the past century. Columbia is the site of the University of Missouri's flagship campus and is a traditional Democratic bastion in the center of Missouri. But Republicans have been making gains in Columbia's home of Boone County, transforming it into a particularly hot battleground.
In the 2000 presidential election, Democrat Al Gore carried Boone County over Republican George Bush by a mere 385 votes out of nearly 60,000 cast. Four years later, Bush carried Boone County over Democrat John Kerry by just 158 votes out of more than 76,000 cast.
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