President Barack Obama dismissed criticism of a statement made by Vice President Joe Biden as Republican candidate Mitt Romney said the remarks take the White House campaign “another level lower.”
Obama said in an interview with People magazine that Biden’s remarks that Republican policies would put middle-income Americans “back in chains” were clearly made in reference to laws passed to tighten regulations on banks and statements by Republicans, including Romney, that some of those rules should be rolled back.
“The truth is that during the course of these campaigns, folks like to get obsessed with how something was phrased even if everybody personally understands that’s not how it was meant,” Obama said in the interview, excerpts of which were released by the magazine.
The two campaigns engaged in a battle over Biden’s words as Obama, Romney and their running mates made appeals to voters in the handful of swing states that may decide the November presidential election. They also escalated their attacks on each other over taxes and the government’s Medicare program, which has moved to the center of the debate since Romney picked Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his choice for vice president.
[h=2]Biden’s Remarks[/h]At issue were Biden’s remarks yesterday to a crowd in Danville, Virginia. He said that Romney would “let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They’re going to put you all back in chains.”
Former U.S. Representative Artur Davis, who is black, told CNN that Biden’s words carried racial overtones.
“I know what Joe Biden was doing yesterday,” Davis, who switched from the Democratic to Republican Party, told CNN. “And every black person in that room knew who the ‘ya’ll’ was, knew what the chains were about, knew what the metaphor was.”
Obama, the first black U.S. president, said in the People interview that the context of Biden’s statement made clear he was saying “you, consumers, the American people, will be a lot worse off if we repeal these laws as the other side is suggesting.”
“In no sense was he trying to connote something other than that,” Obama said.
Romney and Ryan accused the Obama campaign of trying to avoid a discussion about his policies.
[h=2]‘Troubling Course’[/h]Romney, told donors in Charlotte, North Carolina, today that Obama has an “attack America” strategy that “is demeaning to the presidency,” and an “unfortunate and highly troubling course in this campaign.”
Biden’s comment, he said “just takes the White House another level lower.”
“I happen to think the president will do or say anything to get elected,” Romney said at the Duke Mansion at the first of three fundraising events in Charlotte that his finance director, Spencer Zwick, said would raise a total of $1.5 million.
At a campaign event in Ohio yesterday, Romney referred to the vice president’s comment without naming Biden, calling it an “outrageous charge.”
“This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like,” he said. Ryan, in Ohio today, said Obama was trying to run an election campaign “based on anger and division.”
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement that Romney’s remarks “seemed unhinged.”
[h=2]Medicare Debate[/h]The rhetoric from both campaigns also sharpened over policy. The campaigns are sparring over Medicare, the government health program for the elderly, which is prized by senior citizens, who vote in disproportionate numbers. The debate has devolved into a policy-oriented round of mudslinging, with both sides misrepresenting the other’s plans.
Ryan said he welcomed the debate over his Medicare proposals, wading into the politically risky issue in a crucial swing state.
“We want this debate. We need this debate and we will win this debate,” he told voters gathered on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
The remarks, made in his only public event of the day, marked the first time Ryan has mentioned Medicare at a campaign event since being announced as Romney’s running-mate on Aug. 11.
Standing on a small podium at his alma matter, Ryan charged Obama with raiding the program to pay for the health-care law that passed Congress in 2010.
[h=2]Long-Term Sustainability[/h]The Romney campaign argues that the $716 billion in reduced Medicare spending over a decade that were used to finance the law will undermine the long-term sustainability of Medicare.
Obama, campaigning in Iowa, said Romney and Ryan are “making all kinds of stuff up about my plans.”
While most of Obama’s stump speech centered on criticism of Romney’s tax proposals -- referring to them as “trickle-down snake oil” -- he has added a section on Medicare as Romney and Ryan, the head of the House Budget Committee, have spotlighted it.
“I have strengthened Medicare,” Obama said in Dubuque, Iowa. “Now, Mr. Romney and his running mate have a very different plan. They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program.”
The Medicare cuts Romney is focusing on include reduced reimbursement rates to hospitals, drug companies and insurers. Those reductions don’t affect the benefits that seniors are guaranteed to receive under the program.
The latest version of Ryan’s plan -- and the one Romney proposes -- would leave seniors the choice of staying in the traditional Medicare program or taking a government subsidy to buy private insurance.
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in East Davenport, Iowa, at [email protected]; Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Charlotte, North Carolina, at
[email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]
Obama said in an interview with People magazine that Biden’s remarks that Republican policies would put middle-income Americans “back in chains” were clearly made in reference to laws passed to tighten regulations on banks and statements by Republicans, including Romney, that some of those rules should be rolled back.
“The truth is that during the course of these campaigns, folks like to get obsessed with how something was phrased even if everybody personally understands that’s not how it was meant,” Obama said in the interview, excerpts of which were released by the magazine.
The two campaigns engaged in a battle over Biden’s words as Obama, Romney and their running mates made appeals to voters in the handful of swing states that may decide the November presidential election. They also escalated their attacks on each other over taxes and the government’s Medicare program, which has moved to the center of the debate since Romney picked Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his choice for vice president.
[h=2]Biden’s Remarks[/h]At issue were Biden’s remarks yesterday to a crowd in Danville, Virginia. He said that Romney would “let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They’re going to put you all back in chains.”
Former U.S. Representative Artur Davis, who is black, told CNN that Biden’s words carried racial overtones.
“I know what Joe Biden was doing yesterday,” Davis, who switched from the Democratic to Republican Party, told CNN. “And every black person in that room knew who the ‘ya’ll’ was, knew what the chains were about, knew what the metaphor was.”
Obama, the first black U.S. president, said in the People interview that the context of Biden’s statement made clear he was saying “you, consumers, the American people, will be a lot worse off if we repeal these laws as the other side is suggesting.”
“In no sense was he trying to connote something other than that,” Obama said.
Romney and Ryan accused the Obama campaign of trying to avoid a discussion about his policies.
[h=2]‘Troubling Course’[/h]Romney, told donors in Charlotte, North Carolina, today that Obama has an “attack America” strategy that “is demeaning to the presidency,” and an “unfortunate and highly troubling course in this campaign.”
Biden’s comment, he said “just takes the White House another level lower.”
“I happen to think the president will do or say anything to get elected,” Romney said at the Duke Mansion at the first of three fundraising events in Charlotte that his finance director, Spencer Zwick, said would raise a total of $1.5 million.
At a campaign event in Ohio yesterday, Romney referred to the vice president’s comment without naming Biden, calling it an “outrageous charge.”
“This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like,” he said. Ryan, in Ohio today, said Obama was trying to run an election campaign “based on anger and division.”
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement that Romney’s remarks “seemed unhinged.”
[h=2]Medicare Debate[/h]The rhetoric from both campaigns also sharpened over policy. The campaigns are sparring over Medicare, the government health program for the elderly, which is prized by senior citizens, who vote in disproportionate numbers. The debate has devolved into a policy-oriented round of mudslinging, with both sides misrepresenting the other’s plans.
Ryan said he welcomed the debate over his Medicare proposals, wading into the politically risky issue in a crucial swing state.
“We want this debate. We need this debate and we will win this debate,” he told voters gathered on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
The remarks, made in his only public event of the day, marked the first time Ryan has mentioned Medicare at a campaign event since being announced as Romney’s running-mate on Aug. 11.
Standing on a small podium at his alma matter, Ryan charged Obama with raiding the program to pay for the health-care law that passed Congress in 2010.
[h=2]Long-Term Sustainability[/h]The Romney campaign argues that the $716 billion in reduced Medicare spending over a decade that were used to finance the law will undermine the long-term sustainability of Medicare.
Obama, campaigning in Iowa, said Romney and Ryan are “making all kinds of stuff up about my plans.”
While most of Obama’s stump speech centered on criticism of Romney’s tax proposals -- referring to them as “trickle-down snake oil” -- he has added a section on Medicare as Romney and Ryan, the head of the House Budget Committee, have spotlighted it.
“I have strengthened Medicare,” Obama said in Dubuque, Iowa. “Now, Mr. Romney and his running mate have a very different plan. They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program.”
The Medicare cuts Romney is focusing on include reduced reimbursement rates to hospitals, drug companies and insurers. Those reductions don’t affect the benefits that seniors are guaranteed to receive under the program.
The latest version of Ryan’s plan -- and the one Romney proposes -- would leave seniors the choice of staying in the traditional Medicare program or taking a government subsidy to buy private insurance.
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in East Davenport, Iowa, at [email protected]; Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Charlotte, North Carolina, at
[email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]