Obama: It's the economy

Democrat fends off 'socialist' label at campaign stop in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama brought his campaign to the conservative-leaning eastern part of North Carolina on Sunday, warning people not to be "hoodwinked" by a series of Republican charges in the final weeks of the campaign.

Obama, the Illinois senator, said Republicans were assailing his character and were leveling baseless charges of socialism in speeches, robocalls and campaign fliers.

"My opponent has made his choice," Obama told an overflow crowd of more than 10,000 people at Crown Coliseum.

"Senator McCain's campaign actually said a couple of weeks ago that they were going to launch a series of attacks on my character," Obama said. "They said, 'If we keep talking about the economy, we are going to lose.' That is one promise that John McCain has kept. They have been attacking the heck out of me."

"I can take a few more weeks of John McCain's attacks," Obama said. "But the American people can't take four more years of failed economic policies."

This was Obama's first foray for the general election to the eastern part of the state - a region that has long been dominated by conservative white Democrats and is bristling with military installations. He made a surprise stop at a Dunn hotel and picked up lunch at a barbecue restaurant in Fayetteville, where a patron accused him of being a socialist.

In recent days, there has been an intense effort by the Republican ticket to reclaim the lead in the state. McCain has twice been in North Carolina in the past week; his vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, also made an appearance.

"I think it's very competitive and very close," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, in an interview. "The fact that the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates were here in late October shows how close it is."

But Axelrod suggested an Obama victory here would not be easy.

"With apologies to New York," Axelrod said, "if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere."

In some ways, Cumberland County might be McCain country because of the presence of Fort Bragg and McCain's military background and heroism as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

But there were some veterans at the Obama rally. They included Frederica Garvin, a staff sergeant in the Army Reserve who served as a military policewoman in Iraq during the current conflict and in Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War.

"What are we fighting for now?"said Garvin, a Democrat. "All these young kids getting killed over there for no reason."

Garvin, a 49-year-old Fayetteville resident, met a friend at a nearby Waffle House at 4:30 a.m. Sunday to make sure they got a good seat for the 1:30 p.m. rally. It was her first presidential rally since Jimmy Carter's campaign in 1976.

Obama did not focus on military issues during his Fayetteville trip. But he did tout his newly minted endorsement by Colin Powell, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush and as secretary of state under the current President Bush.

McCain's campaign downplayed the endorsement: "Only an unproven and inexperienced politician like Barack Obama would have to rely so heavily on an another man's resume in making the case for his own candidacy -- and it shows that he's just not ready,"said Tucker Bounds, spokesman for McCain-Palin 2008.

In his 34-minute speech, Obama focused on the economy rather than on foreign affairs.

He said the U.S economy is bleeding jobs, and credit is drying up.

"The question is not, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' " Obama said. "Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?"

Accused of socialism

He said both McCain and Palin had accused him of socialism.

"It's kind of hard to figure out why," he said. "Warren Buffet endorsed me. Colin Powell endorsed me."

Obama said he wanted to give a tax break to all families making under $250,000 per year, which he said was 95 percent of American workers. For those who make more, he said he would roll back the Bush tax cuts to the same level that they were under President Clinton.

"John McCain thinks giving folks a tax break is socialism," Obama said. "I call it opportunity."

Myron Gatlin was at the rally because he is worried about the economy.

Gatlin, a 34-year-old Democrat, said he was working two jobs, working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift as a medical technician, going home and showering and heading off to a retail store to work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing," Gatlin said. And yet, he said, it's difficult to get ahead. He is worried about whether his Individual Retirement Account at Wachovia is safe because of that bank's financial problems.

Earlier in the day, Obama held a brief, unannounced rally at a Hampton Inn in Dunn attended by several hundred people that lasted about five minutes. He had lunch at Cape Fear BBQ & Chicken, ordering a fried chicken plate with greens, slaw and baked beans, to go.

Most people greeted him warmly. But Diane Fanning, 54, was an exception. She yelled, "Boo, Socialist! Socialist! Get out of here."