Presidential candidate Barack Obama goes into Republican territory in Missouri to tell an audience why John McCain is the wrong man for the job Obama wants.
Obama has told about 200 people in Cape Girardeau that McCain will continue policies of the Bush administration.
The trip has been billed as the start of his national election campaign although Obama does not yet have the delegates he needs for the nomination locked up.
Obama says he’s not worried about the Democratic party being divided. He says he’s sure party members will unite behind a candidate.
Obama says he’d tax windfall profits by oil companies to create new jobs in now-closed factories. He says he would push for tighter regulation of the credit industry that he says fails to disclose information to consumers, leading consumers into perilous financial situations.
He says he would bring all combat troops home in about sixteen months. He says the war is draining the United States treasury and the nation cannot afford "blank checks to fight an endless war in Iraq."
Obama says the Republican party has decided to run on "the failed policies of the past."
(with this story are four soundbites from Obama’s presentation in Cape Girardeau, courtesy of Erin Hyden at affiliate KZIM)