Obama Talks Economy Amongst Londonderry Apples

A day after Gov. Sarah Palin toured the state for John McCain, Barack Obama visited the Granite State and rallied his supporters the day after the final presidential debate. Right in Londonderry, Obama spoke to a bulging crowd of over three thousand at Mack’s Apples, an apple and pumpkin farm that provided the quintessential New England October setting. Just as Biden and Palin had rosied up to New Hampshire voters over the last few days, Obama took a turn too, saying, “…this is just a wonderful institution, and tradition here, in New Hampshire. It’s good to be back, guys. I missed you. I’ve missed you.”

While McCain had surged to the front of the Republican nominees here during the primary, Obama was shocked by an upset in the polls that night. The polls had shown him way up on Hillary the day of the primary yet she pulled out a surprise and solid victory. It gave Hillary a new, albeit temporary, surge. Now leading in the polls in the presidential race, Obama reminded his supporters not to get too excited, saying, “We are 19 days away from changing this country. Nineteen days. But for those who are getting a little cocky, I’ve got two words for you: New Hampshire. I learned right here that you can’t let up or pay too much attention to the polls.”

Obama took a few swings at McCain, but when the crowd started to boo for McCain, he said, “Don’t boo now, just vote. “ He once again tried to link McCain to the Bush administration and his economic policies, saying that he could provide new leadership to help get the economy back on its feet. He joked about his conversation with a die-hard Republican store owner who said that his customers couldn’t afford to eat out anymore. “I said, ‘who’s been in charge of the economy for the last eight years? the republicans’. I said, ‘you know, if you kept on hitting your head against the wall over and over again and it started to hurt, at some point would you stop hitting your head against the wall?’ he said, ‘you’ve got a point.’ now, I’m sure the American people are tired of hitting their head against the wall. They want real change in this country.”

Obama barely touched on other issues and with the economy being what it is right now, he’s certainly trying to project himself as the candidate on the economy.