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		<TITLE>Ben Smith's Blog: Obama: By McCain's standard, $3 million is middle class  - Politico.com</TITLE>
	

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													<p><br><b style="color:#666666;">August 18, 2008</b><br>
													<b style="color:#666666;">Categories:</b>&nbsp;<a href="http://dyn.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/index.cfm/category/BarackObama">Barack Obama</a></p>
													<h1 class="section_best_breaking">Obama: By McCain's standard, $3 million is middle class</h1>
													<p class="blogtext"><p>Obama, who has notably sharpened his jabs at John McCain since he returned to the campaign trail this week, took aim today at John McCain&rsquo;s crack during a Saturday forum that $5 million is the line between middle class and rich, my colleague Ken Vogel reports from Albuquerque, N.M.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Maybe he was joking,&rdquo; Obama said at the town hall this morning in a library, joking that by McCain&rsquo;s standards, making $3 million must mean you&rsquo;re &quot;middle class.&quot;<br />
<br />
Obama continued that McCain&rsquo;s skewed idea of wealth &quot;is reflected in his policies.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Here's the McCain comment to which Obama was referring, which occurred at a forum with Pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church:</p>
<p><blockquote>WARREN: Everybody talks about, you know, taxing the rich, but not the poor, the middle class. At what point, give me a number, give me a specific number. Where do you move from middle class to rich? [&hellip;]<br />
<br />
MCCAIN: How about $5 million? No, but seriously, I don&rsquo;t think you can, I don&rsquo;t think seriously that the point is I&rsquo;m trying to make, seriously, and I&rsquo;m sure that comment will be distorted but the point is&hellip;that we want to keep people&rsquo;s taxes low, and increase revenues. &hellip; So, it doesn&rsquo;t matter really what my definition of rich is because I don&rsquo;t want to raise anybody&rsquo;s taxes. I really don&rsquo;t.<br />
</blockquote>UPDATE: McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responds: &quot;As was immediately predicted by John McCain after he made the remark, Barack Obama is already distorting his comment about the definition of 'rich' in America.  Remember when Barack Obama said he was 'tired of distortion, name-calling, and sound bite solutions to complicated problems?' Neither do we.&quot;</p>
<p>Bounds said McCain never said $3 million was middle class, but declined to elaborate on what McCain meant.</p></p>
													
													
													
													
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												<b style="color:#666666;">By Ben Smith 01:21 PM</b></div>
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Of course all you repubs are going to say "He was joking"  but the fact of the matter is MCCain said it and I believe he really meant it.  No, McCain your comment won't be distorted...no one made you come up with that number....no one 'tricked' you ....you said 5 million all on your own, now deal with it.  God, I hope they make his comments into a commercial.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:26 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<a href="http://dyn.politico.com/abuse.cfm?id=%26%29%3EL%2C%2BIEU%0A&type=blog&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epolitico%2Ecom%2Fblogs%2Fbensmith%2F" title="Click here to report this comment as abuse."><img src="http://images.politico.com/global/secondary/abuse.gif" align="absbottom" hspace="3" border="0" alt="abuse icon" /><b><font style="font-size:8px;">REPORT ABUSE</font></b></a>
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">I don't care about the 3 million and up, but I do care whether at 50k and up I am considered rich. That just doesn't work for me.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Ray | August 18, 2008 at 01:27 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<a href="http://dyn.politico.com/abuse.cfm?id=%26%29%3EL%2C%2BIA%5D%0A&type=blog&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epolitico%2Ecom%2Fblogs%2Fbensmith%2F" title="Click here to report this comment as abuse."><img src="http://images.politico.com/global/secondary/abuse.gif" align="absbottom" hspace="3" border="0" alt="abuse icon" /><b><font style="font-size:8px;">REPORT ABUSE</font></b></a>
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Obama obviously doesn't get the joke - things cost so much now that you'd have to be a millionaire just to get a week's worth of groceries.  Boy, talk about elitist. 

I guess Obama didn't like McCain's joke because that would mean Obama is middle-class and Obama wants no part of that.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> jose | August 18, 2008 at 01:29 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<a href="http://dyn.politico.com/abuse.cfm?id=%26%29%3EL%2C%2BIA%5B%0A&type=blog&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epolitico%2Ecom%2Fblogs%2Fbensmith%2F" title="Click here to report this comment as abuse."><img src="http://images.politico.com/global/secondary/abuse.gif" align="absbottom" hspace="3" border="0" alt="abuse icon" /><b><font style="font-size:8px;">REPORT ABUSE</font></b></a>
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">The McCain point that he doesn't want to raise anybody's taxes is a good one. We should be cutting everybody's taxes.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:29 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">That's definitely the elitist sound-bite to come out of that event...</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> important point | August 18, 2008 at 01:30 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Um, McCain was joking.
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"How about $5 million? <b>No, but seriously</b>..."</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Anthony Lorenzo - Hillary Supporter Who's Leaning Toward McCain | August 18, 2008 at 01:34 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">I'm surprised this stupid comment by McSame hasn't gotten more attention.     How do the Republicans continue to get away with pushing the notion that  Obama/the Democrats are elitist??  Sure...having 5 million dollars makes  you rich, but it won't buy you McSame's nine houses!  He's completely out of touch with the ordinary financial struggles that the average American is faced with.  This really shouldn't go unnoticed...where's the outrage?</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Rhys | August 18, 2008 at 01:35 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Eileen, your little "flim-flam" thing isn't catching on - try something new</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> dRwOOD | August 18, 2008 at 01:36 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">It's good that McStupid doesn't want to raise taxes, after all, we don't need to pay for anything!  The goodwill that the rest of the world feels for America will prevent them from ever calling in their debts.  Wee, I'm stupid!</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Chris | August 18, 2008 at 01:38 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">I didn't think the question was funny so why should I accept a 'funny' answer?  He meant what he said.  McCain could not think of a number for rich because he did not want the MSM or BO to take him to town on it.  Why did MCCain answered every other question 'strong' but not this one?  Give me a break people.  Eileen, talk about flim flam - isn't that what MCCain is.  If you look that word up in the dictionary, you'd find McCain's picture. (I'm against tax cuts...no I'm for them)</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:38 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">The comment nobody else noticed...when he talked about spending and mentioned the $3 Million about the bears in Montana.

McCain loves to rail on "spending", and rightly so, yet he's the biggest proponent of indefinitely prolonging a useless war in Iraq that will cost about $3 TRILLION when all is said and done.

McCain is a total hypocrite for criticising spending while supporting the biggest drain on our economy out there.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Rich | August 18, 2008 at 01:42 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Well, leave it to Obama himself to be the first to DISTORT, as McCain quickly predicted, his off-the-cuff humor/joke about 5 million being 'rich'. Obama states that McCain 'might' have been joking--Obama KNOWS McCain was joking as McCain quickly referenced his humorous response. For Obama to use the word "might" be joking just shows how desperate Obama and camp are getting to create amunition against McCain. Guess this will be considered a 5 million dollar rich 'fact' for Obama's next negative, elitist ad against McCain.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:42 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Hit McBush hard and dont stop until he croaks "No Mas".</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Katanga Hussein | August 18, 2008 at 01:43 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">John McCain doesn't even know what the average price of milk, or bread, or eggs is.  I'm surprised he even thought 5 mil was rich.  That's only 1/20 of what he's worth.  I can't imagine Mccain ever lived off less than 5 million dollars.  And if he cuts everyone's taxes, that means poor won't get health care, bridges wil keep falling, and levees will keep breaking.  How about you try to help the country and not just your rich friends, Mr. John McElitist.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> No, but seriously | August 18, 2008 at 01:43 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">That's good Ben. Make sure to take a joke seriously. Way to build up your lefty bona fides.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> bruce, NV | August 18, 2008 at 01:43 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Dear Anthony --

As a "former" Hillary supporter, I feel your pain.  It's hard to go from actively believing in and hoping for a candidate's success to cheering for their opponent.  As a Democrat I sincerely hope that you change your mind because as Hillary supporters we should support her ideas and not just when Hillary is the messenger.  Voting for McCain is a set back for  everything that Hillary stands for...it's a set back for women... and I think we owe it to her to ensure that her ideals win out in this election.  And that means voting for Obama!</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Rhys | August 18, 2008 at 01:45 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">LOL @ brotherbunk</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> HA | August 18, 2008 at 01:47 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">I think Obama is more in touch with real people. Most people consider much less then $5 million to be rich. The rich just want to keep getting richer while the poor get poorer. They're just greedy. Oh it must be a hard life to have a million dollar income. Seriously now..come on! Must be tough putting your kids through private school, having a nanny to take care of them, having hired hands to do all the manual labor on your big property, oh the horrors. Tough driving around in a mercedes. I feel so sorry for you..Yes you deserve more tax breaks. The wealthier have the advantage of having an accountant to help them skirt around as many of the tax laws as possible to have to pay as little in taxes as possible. They don't pay there fair share. The burden is on the hard working middle class. No more tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations..there time has come.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Daisy | August 18, 2008 at 01:47 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Here is an ARTICLE from Phoenix about John McCain. It is a must read for anyone who intends to vote in November. PLEASE <a href="http://www.mtexpress.com/1999/12-29-99/12-29murphy.htm">CLICK HERE - READ, THEN COMMENT AND SHARE</a></div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> REAL MC-CAIN | August 18, 2008 at 01:48 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Ben-- What you fail to point out is how much McCain struggled with the question and couldn't give a number... which is what the question was. He finally threw out the 5 million number, before catching himself, but failed to give a answer to the question... Must be hard when you're worth hundreds of millions.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> jet | August 18, 2008 at 01:48 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">With ridiculous comments like this, McCain will never win. I guess when ur worth $180 million, wear $500 penny loafers u can makes those sort of comments. The man is a classless elitist.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Erin | August 18, 2008 at 01:49 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Wow.  Are you seriously trying to turn this comment around?  How freaking retarded are you?

But maybe you should believe he meant 5 million dollars.  It's a good point - no one deserves to have their taxes raised.  What we need to do is cut taxes and get rid of some of the worthless social programs that don't do anything good for America as a whole, but rather for a select few who don't bother.

OR we could consider everyone making over $42,000 rich, and tax them ridiculously.

which plan sounds better?</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:49 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Well, since Obama states that Republicans are racists who will scare off Obama voters by 'mentioning' Obama is black; and since Obama's manager David Plouffe stated that anyone who votes based on the color of a person's skin (i.e. is a racist) will vote Republican; and since Howard Dean just stated that Republicans were the 'white' party--then maybe it goes to Democrats' standards/strategy that they will work into their anti-McCain/Republicans ad scenerio that there's a higher percentage of 'white' Americans than 'black' American who  make 5 million or more--SO McCain's 5 million dollar rich joke was actually a racist comment! Watch Keith O tonight--surely he can make the connection on behalf of the pro Obama/anti-McCain democrats!</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:49 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">It is a demonstration of how badly the big 'O' got his butt kicked on Saturday that this is all his syncophants have got to fall back on.

Also, did anybody besides me find Obama holding his head in that sort of weird side tilt distracting?</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> aaronburr | August 18, 2008 at 01:50 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Let's all cut McCain a break...  $5 million is less than 5% of his wife's net worth.  I'm surprised he doesn't consider such a firm "struggling."  In fact, what Obama considers "rich" is, at most, equal to Cindy McCain's monthly credit card balance.
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/21/mccain-campaign-has-over-1-million-in-credit-card-debt/</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Judy | August 18, 2008 at 01:50 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">The question was what do you consider rich, not how much does one have to make annually to be considered rich.3 millon net worth in todays world is very well off but not what I would consider rich.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:51 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Everyone in the audience and watchuing knew he was joking. Leave it Obama to distort it as McCain predicted. Ya see, expereince counts.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> MKK11413 | August 18, 2008 at 01:51 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">NoButSerious @ 1:43P: McCain lived for almost 6 years on less than 5 million--much, much less.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:53 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">American voter.  Saw McCain was joking and heard the audience laughter and the "no, but seriously" immediately afterwards.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> I vote | August 18, 2008 at 01:54 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">If any of you nimrods think McCain was being serious, you did not watch the Saddleback forum.  He was laughing when he said it.  It was a laugh line.  If you saw it and still say he was being serious,  YOU are being dishonest.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong>  | August 18, 2008 at 01:55 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Did you hear this from today?

"John McCain told fellow veterans on Monday that his Democratic rival Barack Obama tried to legislate failure in Iraq."

'I'm John McCain and I approve lies, fears, and smears.'-- Lee</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Lee-- Dallas, TX | August 18, 2008 at 01:56 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">You want an aristocracy vote McCain.</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Mark | August 18, 2008 at 01:56 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">30 million Illegal Alien chuntes Illegally here in America are rich!!!</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> DfD(Democrats for Deportation) | August 18, 2008 at 01:57 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">McCain elitist. We can see why you say America has done good in the last 8 years. We middle class have 5 million in our bank accounts and are whiners! Big gaffe! Your jokes are going to be the end of you!!! Obama 08</div></td>
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													<strong style="color:#034694">Posted By:</strong> Bev | August 18, 2008 at 01:57 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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													<td colspan="2"><div style="overflow:hidden;width:458px">Identity politic will get you know where fast "my friend"! Glad to see you took the bait Obama. why don't you go run in Venezuala. You're at least as Marxist