Didn’t get this on my calendar of events, but I received this e-mail from the Obama-Biden campaign:
TODAY: Governor Sebelius to Visit Iowa; Has Five Questions Senator McCain Needs to Answer when he Returns to Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa – On Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius will visit Iowa on behalf of the Obama campaign. Governor Sebelius will start her trip in Cedar Rapids where she will hold a town hall and present five questions that Senator McCain must answer when he returns to Iowa on Thursday.
Governor Sebelius will then travel to Iowa City for a brown bag lunch and to West Burlington for a town hall. The details of the events are:
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2008
10:15 AM CDT
Governor Sebelius to hold a town hall and present five questions that Senator McCain must answer when he returns to Iowa
IBEW Hall
1211 Wiley Blvd.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Doors open at 9:45 AM CDT12:15 PM CDT
Governor Sebelius to hold a brown bag lunch
Iowa City Public Library – Room A
123 S Linn St.
Iowa City, Iowa
Doors open at 11:45 AM CDT3:40 PM CDT
Governor Sebelius to hold a town hall
Southeastern Community College – Room 123
1500 West Agency Road
West Burlington, Iowa
Doors open at 3:15 PM CDT
Post a comment or put up a diary if you get to one of these events. Sebelius campaigned in central Iowa last month.
UPDATE: Here is a statement from the Obama campaign on the questions Sebelius would like John McCain and Sarah Palin to answer:
Des Moines – Today, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and West Burlington, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius discussed with Iowans the five questions Senator McCain should answer to the people of Iowa during his trip to Iowa this Thursday.
“I know Senator McCain and Governor Palin would rather talk about anything other than the economy these days,” said Governor Sebelius. “However, there are important questions that must be asked and answered, such as does Senator McCain honestly still believe the ‘fundamentals of our economy are strong?'”
5 QUESTIONS FOR MCCAIN AND/OR PALIN:
1. Do you honestly believe that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong”?
BACKGROUND:
· On Monday, John McCain said: “McCain: You know, that there’s been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street and it is — people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times.”
· That very same day, Lehman Brothers filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and listed debts of $613 billion.
· Americans have lost more than 600,000 jobs this year.
2. Will you finally admit to the American people that Barack Obama offers more in tax relief to middle class families than you do?
BACKGROUND:
· Barack Obama strongly believes in lowering taxes for middle class families, and will cut middle class taxes by 3 times as much as McCain.
· The Obama economic plan will provide 95 percent of Iowa workers and their families with a $1,000 middle class tax cut.
· According to an independent analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Barack Obama offers a family making between $37,000 to $66,000 per year at tax cut of $1,042. John McCain offers a family making the same amount a tax cut of only $319.
3. Will you admit that your economic proposal provides $300 billion more in tax cuts to big corporations, yet leaves out 67 percent of Iowa households?
BACKGROUND:
· John McCain wants to give oil companies an additional $4 billion in tax cuts, including giving Exxon Mobil an additional $1.2 billion.
4. Where did you get the idea to force employees to start paying taxes on their health care benefits?
BACKGROUND:
· McCain’s health care plan would raise taxes on working families by thousands of dollars because, under his plan, you’d have to start paying income taxes on your employer-provided health care benefits.
· According to FactCheck.org, McCain’s plan could “eliminate job-based insurance altogether.”
5. Do you think George W. Bush has been a great president?
BACKGROUND:
· They share the same failed economic plan: more for the rich while leaving middle class behind.
· Both support continuing to spend $10 billion in Iraq while domestic needs go unmet.
· Both support short-sighted energy plans backed by oil interests.
· Both support privatizing Social Security.
Meanwhile, John Deeth reports at Iowa Independent that Republicans are trying to gin up a new scandal over this comment by Sebelius in Iowa City:
“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.”
Only an idiot would claim that there aren’t a certain number of voters who would typically vote for a Democrat but are reluctant to support Obama because of his race. I ran into a woman in my precinct yesterday who told me her father-in-law is one of those people. She and her husband are encouraging him to stay home (rather than vote for McCain) if he is really unable to vote for Obama.
I believe Obama will be able to turn out enough new voters to compensate for the racially intolerant.
But let’s not pretend that certain Republicans are not using code words and phrases to emphasize Obama’s race. I think billmon was mostly on target in this post about the attacks on “community organizers” at the Republican convention being code for “ghetto activists.”
This post shows Fox “News” broadcasting Obama speaking in a box right next to footage from the OJ Simpson trial.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz recently reassured Republicans that they should not worry if McCain trails in the polls, because some racists will lie to pollsters and then vote against Obama.