"I promise . . . you and I are going to change this country and change this world,"

Republicans are going on the attack because they did not have any ideas or concrete plans to help improve the lives of ordinary Americans, Obama told reporters after touring a factory that makes hydro-energy equipment in York, Pennsylvania.

"They've spent the entire two nights attacking me or extolling John McCain's biography, which is fine," said Obama, who faces Republican John McCain in the November election.

"They can use their convention time any way they want, but you can't expect that I'd be surprised by attacks from Republicans," Obama said.

"I've been called worse on the basketball court," he said.

Asked exactly what he has been called on the basketball court, he laughed and replied: "You'd have to bleep it out."

read: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0443056220080904





GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin (and Guliani) made light of (Obama's) community organizer role in her acceptance speech Wednesday night.

"I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities," Palin said.

In York, Pa., Thursday, Obama used the criticism to suggest Republicans are out of touch with everyday people.

"Why would that kind of work be ridiculous?" he said. "Who are they fighting for?"

Obama said the GOP criticism did not surprise him, CBS News reported. He noted his GOP critics have not brought up his experience as a civil rights lawyer or constitutional law professor.

read: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/04/Obama_Whats_funny_about_community_work/UPI-53651220585087/





For the first two days of the Republican convention, Sen. Barack Obama resisted pushing back against the attacks emanating from St. Paul, Minn. But on Thursday, the fourth and final day, his patience gave out, as he dismissed the barrage of criticism from the convention floor as "the same old vitriol and slash-and-burn politics."

"You wouldn't know that this is such a critical election by watching the convention last night," the Democratic presidential nominee told a group of factory workers assembled under a blazing sun. "You're hearing a lot about John McCain, and he's got a compelling biography as a prisoner of war. You're hearing an awful lot about me, most of which is not true. What you're not hearing is a lot about you."

read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403433_2.html





LANCASTER, PA. - Barack Obama said he wasn’t surprised by the tone of Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani’s speeches last night, arguing “This is what they do. They don’t have an agenda to run on.”

“I’ll let Gov. Palin talk about her experience and I’ll talk about mine,” he told a local worker.

However, he later dismissed accusations that criticism of her resume is somehow irrelevant or sexist.

“I assume that she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated which means that their records are under scrutiny,” Obama said.

“I've been through this for 19 months. She's been through it, what for 4 days so far?”

read: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/04/politics/fromtheroad/entry4417248.shtml





Wearing a tank top handpainted with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign logo, Rachael Ruark of Lancaster talked of her support for the visiting candidate. So did her friend, but she didn't want her name used for a story.

The quiet one feared that her co-workers and husband's co-workers in this mostly Republican area would look down on her if they knew her secret.

Such was the case with many of those who showed up in one of the most conservative areas in the state to hear the Illinois senator.

"I promise you, we will not just win this election, we will not just win Pennsylvania, but you and I are going to change this country and change this world," Obama told the estimated crowd of 10,000 just outside Franklin & Marshall College.

read: http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1220581533133620.xml&coll=1






York:(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Lancaster: (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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