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Candidates Make Final Push Before Election; Obama Remarks in Pennsylvania; Palin & McCain Stump in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Aired October 28, 2008 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Candidates shore up supporters and try to push the swing voters their way. Barack Obama holding a rally in Pennsylvania. John McCain also in that state this hour. We're going to be hearing from both. The final week begins now.
It's Tuesday, October 28th. I'm Heidi Collins. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, this is it, the last week of campaigning. Pennsylvania is the focus this morning for both presidential candidates. We are expecting Senator John McCain at a rally in Hershey any minute now. the Republican nominee then heads to North Carolina closing out his day in Florida. His running mate, Governor Sarah Palin will be in Hershey with him and then continue across Pennsylvania on her own.

Senator Barack Obama is in that state as well and also just about to speak to supporters there. Then he goes on to Virginia. His running mate, Senator Joe Biden, is taking the Democrat's message across Florida. For now though we want to go directly to Senator Barack Obama who has taken tot the podium we believe.

Let's go ahead and listen for just a moment, again, coming out Chester, Pennsylvania this morning.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- put an end to politics that would divide the nation, just to win an election, that tries to pit region against region, and city against town and Republican against Democrat. We can put an end to the kind of politics that has put fear ahead of hope. In one week at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change that we need. That's what you can do.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, we began this journey on a day that was actually little worse than today. It was seven degrees outside, 22 months ago, on the steps of the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois. And back then we didn't have much money and we didn't have many endorsements. We weren't given much of a chance in the polls or by the pundits. We knew how steep this climb was going to be. But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had out grown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe, they were hungry, they were desperate for new ideas and new leadership and a new kind of politics. One that favors common sense over ideology, one that focuses on those values and ideals that we hold in common as Americans. And most of all, I believed in you, your ability to make change happen. I knew that the American people - I knew that the American people were a decent people and a generous people who were willing to work hard and sacrifice on behalf of future generations. And I was convinced that if all of us came together, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, rich, poor, gay, straight, disabled, nondisabled. It doesn't matter. If we came together, then our voices would be more powerful than the most entrenched lobbyists or the most vicious political attack or the full force of the Washington status quo. I knew we could bring that change together.

And 21 months later my faith in the American people has been vindicated. That's how we've come so far so close, because of you. That's how we're going to change this country, because of you. And that's why in this last week we cannot afford to slow down or to sit back or to let up, whether it's rain or sleet or snow. We are going to go out and we are going to vote because there's too much at stake. There is too much at stake right now for us to back off. We are going to keep on going until we finish the job.

Just yesterday, just yesterday we learned that despite the current crisis in the economy, despite the fact that we're in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and that 760,000 workers have lost their jobs so far this year, despite the fact that businesses and families can't get credit and home values are failing - are falling and pensions are disappearing and wages are lower now than they've been in a decade, despite all this, Wall Street bank executives are set to walk away with billions in bonuses at the end of this year. They may not call that a bonus here on Wall Street, but here in Pennsylvania we call that an outrage and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

We can't afford four more years of the same tired old theory that says we should give more and more billionaires and millionaires and hope prosperity trickles down on everybody else. That's the failed theory that got us into this mess. It hasn't worked. It's time for a change. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Now, in the closing days of this campaign, my opponent is trying to distance himself from President Bush. Despite the fact that he's faithfully supported him 90 percent of the time. He supported four out of the five of the Bush budgets that have taken us from surplus under the Clinton years to the largest deficit in history. John McCain has road shotgun as George Bush has driven this economy toward the cliff. Now he wants to take the wheel and step on the gas.

And when it comes to the issues of taxes, saying that John McCain is running for a third Bush term isn't being fair to George Bush. He's proposing $300 billion in new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. That's not something even George Bush proposed. Not even George Bush proposed another $700,000 in tax cuts to the average "Fortune 500" CEO. Not even George Bush proposed a plan that would leave 100 million middle class families out of tax relief. That's not change.

Change is a middle class tax cut for 95 percent of workers and their families. Change is eliminating income taxes for seniors making under $50,000 a year and giving homeowners and working parents a break. Change is eliminating the capital gains tax for the small businesses that are the engines of job creation in this country. That's what I want to do. That's why I'm running for president of the United States. That's why I want your vote.

(APPLAUSE)

The fact is there is only one candidate with a plan that could eventually raise taxes on middle class families, and it isn't me. It's John McCain, who would make you pay taxes on your health care benefits for the first time in history. Now, it's true that i want to roll back the Bush tax on the wealthiest Americans, go back to the rate they paid under Bill Clinton. But make no mistake, if you make less than a quarter million a year - how many of you make less than a quarter million a year? Raise your hand. Actually just about everybody here. You want to keep your hands in your pocket. It's too cold.

If you make less than a quarter million a year and that includes, by the way, 98 percent of small businesses and 99.9 percent of plumbers, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, not your income tax, no tax. Because the last thing you need is higher taxes when we're in a recession like this. You won't get one under an Obama administration.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me tell you, in the end the choice isn't between tax cuts or no tax cuts. Both John McCain and I want to give tax cuts. The question is who we're going to give it to, whether you believe we should just reward wealth or whether we should also reward work and the workers who create wealth. It's about whether you believe in an America where opportunities and success is open to all people and not just some people. Everybody who is willing to work for it. And that's the kind of America that I want to build when I'm president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

Pennsylvania, we have tried it John McCain's way. We've tried it George Bush's way. It hasn't worked, and deep down John McCain knows it hasn't worked, which is why his campaign said that, if we talk about the economy, then we lose.

Let me tell you, this campaign is not about John McCain losing. It's about Americans losing their homes and losing their jobs and losing their health care and losing their pensions. And we are going to make sure that we reverse that because I can take another seven days of attack from John McCain, but the American people can't take the kinds of economic policies that have created this mess for another four years. That's why I'm running for president of the United States.

You know, they are trying to throw everything at the - they are trying to throw everything at me in these last seven days. But you know what? It's not going to work. Not this time. Not now. Because the fact that all of you are here today shows how badly you want change, shows how committed you are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want change! We want change! We want change!

OBAMA: Now, let me tell you this. I know these are difficult times. I know these are difficult times and we - but I want to remind everybody that we faced difficult times before. We've faced bad weather before. We've faced clouds in the sky before. But one of the things about the American people is that it's precisely when things are hard that we rise up. It's precisely during those times where it looks like we're giving up hope, that we stand together. It's about rejecting fear and division for unity of purpose.

That's how we over came war and great depression. That's how we won the great struggles for civil rights and women's rights and workers rights. And that's how we're going to emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than we were before.

Remember, we've got the most talented workers on earth. We've got - we're the home of innovation and technology and some of the finest colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities. So there's no reason that we can't make this century another American century. We just need a new direction. We just need a new politics.

Now, I don't think, I don't think that government can solve all of our problems. And I know you don't either. But I do believe that government should be able to do what we cannot do for ourselves, to provide for our national defense, to keep us from harm, to provide a decent education for every child, not just some children, to invest in new roads and new bridges and thrive in the innovation and the growth that we need for all Americans to succeed.

We should make sure that businesses, even as we're encouraging the free market, that they're living up to their responsibilities to their workers and to their communities, that they're not laying people off without somehow thinking about how they're going to take care of these workers, how pensions are protected, and people are living up to the promises they made to workers who worked in a plant for 20, or 30, or 40 years. Suddenly these companies are going into bankruptcy and CEOs are getting million dollar pensions and folks are losing - million dollar bonuses and folks are losing their pensions. There's something wrong about that.

You know, we should ensure that everybody has a chance to success, not just people with money, people with power, people with influence, but every single person. That's how we've always grown the American economy, not from the top-down, but from the bottom up. That's the kind of change we need to bring to America right now. So let me just lay out for you - because I want everybody to get inside. I don't want people to be so cold you end up not being able to vote.

Let me describe for you - let me describe for you the new direction that we need to take and what a new politics means. If we're going to get through this crisis, we need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between left and right. We don't need bigger government or smaller government. We need more confident government. We need a government that upholds our values. We don't have to choose between allowing the financial system to collapse and spending billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out a Wall Street bank. As president I'm going to make sure that this financial rescue plan helps stop foreclosures and protects your money instead of protecting CEOs and enriching CEOs.

I'm going to put in place common sense regulation that I've been calling for throughout this campaign so that Wall Street can never cause a crisis like this again. That's the change that we need. When it comes to jobs, the choice is not between putting up a wall around America and allowing every job to disappear overseas. The truth is, we're going to have to compete in this global economy. We won't be able to bring back every single job that has left, but we can stop doing what John McCain wants to keep doing, and giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. We need to give tax breaks to companies that invest in jobs right here in the United States of America. I want to give a tax credit to every American company that is creating a new job here in America, eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses so they're creating more jobs.

And I want to invest, create two million jobs rebuilding the infrastructure of America, our roads, our bridges, laying broadband lines, enroll communities. And we need to invest finally in a new energy economy, $15 billion a year, so that we can open up factories rebuilding solar panels and creating wind turbines and creating the fuel efficient cars of the future, not in South Korea, not in Japan, but right here in Pennsylvania, right here in the United States of America. That's the change we need.

When it comes to health care, we don't have to choose between a government-run health care system and the unaffordable one that we have now. If you've got health care, then you don't - we're not going to change anything except we'll work to lower your premiums. If you don't have health care, you're going to be able to buy the same kind of health care that members of Congress give themselves. And we are going to make sure that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against those who are sick and need care the most by calling it a pre- existing condition. We're going to make sure that everybody gets the coverage they need. That's the change we need in America.

When it comes to giving every child a world class education so they can compete in the global economy for the 21st century, the choice isn't between more money and more reform. We need both. I'm going to invest in early childhood education to make sure that every child gets a good start. We're going to pay our teachers higher salaries and give them more support in exchange for higher standards. And let me make a commitment to all the young people that are here today.

(APPLAUSE)

If you are willing to invest in community service or national service, if you're willing to serve in our military or serve in the peace corps, work in a veteran's home, or work in a homeless shelter, whatever service you choose, then we will guarantee that every single one of you can go to college and you are going to have your tuition covered, no ifs, ands, or buts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama! Obama! Obama!

OBAMA: Now, let me tell you something - we're also going to have to change our foreign policy. Some of these changes that we're talking about are going to cost money. And when people ask you, well, how are we going to pay for some of this, you just remind them that we are spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. And if we can spend $10 billion in Iraq, we can spend some money right here in Pennsylvania putting Americans back to work. But we're going to also have to do more than that. You know, I won't stand here and pretend that what changes I'm talking about are going to be easy, especially now. The cost of the economic crisis, the cost of the war in Iraq means that Washington is going to have to tighten its belt just like you have had to tighten your belt in your family.

It means that we're going to have to put off spending on some things that we need, and we're going to have to eliminate things that we don't need. And that's why as president I'm going to go through this federal budget line by line. We are going to stop wasting money in Washington. We've got too much to do to waste money on programs that don't work. As I said from the day this journey began, the change we need isn't just about new programs and new policies. It's about a new politics. A politics that calls on our better angels instead of encouraging our worst instincts, one that reminds us of our obligations that we have not just to ourselves, but to each other. Part of the reason that this economic crisis happened is because we've been leaving through an era of profound irresponsibility.

On Wall Street easy money and an ethic of greed blinded executives to the dangers they were creating for the entire financial system. On Main Street lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn't afford. And some people went ahead and bought homes that they couldn't afford. In Washington politicians spent money they didn't have and allowed lobbyist to set the agenda. They scored political points instead of solving problems.

That's why in these last eight years what we've lost can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. We've also lost the idea that in this American story each of us has a role to play, each of us has responsibilities to work hard and look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has responsibilities to look after each other. That's what's been lost, a sense of higher purpose, a sense of common purpose.

Yes government has to lead the way on education, but I can't be a parent to your child. You've got to turn off the TV set and make sure your child does their homework. Yes, government has to lead the way on energy independence. But all of us have a responsibility to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately. But at this defining moment all of us has to summon up the strength and the grace to bridge our differences and unite in common purpose. We can't afford the same political games and tactics that we've seen over the last few years.

Despite what my opponent may claim, there are no real parts of America or fake parts of America. There's no city or town that's more pro American than anyplace else. We're one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots. The men and women who served on our battlefields, some may be Democrats, some may be independents, some may be Republicans. But they've all fought together and bled together, and some died together under our same proud flag. They haven't served a red America or a blue America. They served the United States of America. And that's why we're here today.

So let me just finish up by saying this, this is not going to be easy, Pennsylvania. And you know that, because look at all of you standing here today. It's not easy standing in the cold and in the rain. You know it's not easy. But you also know this is time to come together. Some of you may be cynical. Some of you may be fed up with politics. A lot of you may be disappointed with your leaders and you've got every reason - every right to be angry with your leaders.

But despite all of this, I'm asking you right now to do what Americans have done throughout our history. I'm asking you to believe. I'm asking you not to believe in my ability to bring about change. I'm asking you to believe in your ability to bring about change. And I know this change is possible because I've seen it in this election. I've seen the lines of young voters stretched around churches and schools. I've seen workers who would rather cut back on their hours than see their co-workers lose their jobs. I've seen neighbors take in total strangers because the floodwaters -

COLLINS: All right. There you have some of the rally for Senator Barack Obama who is in Chester, Pennsylvania today. To the left of your screen, we want to go ahead and get a big of flavor from the McCain-Palin rally. That's happening across the state, a little bit towards the center there of Pennsylvania -- Hershey.

Let's get ahead and let's listen to Governor Palin.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- to be here with the next first lady of the United States, Cindy McCain.

Thank you all so much for that warm welcome to the beautiful Hershey, Pennsylvania.

(APPLAUSE)

PALIN: Someone first I'd like you to meet, that is Alaska's first dude, my husband, Todd Palin. Todd is a commercial fisherman and production operator up in Alaska's north slope oil fields. He's a proud member of the United Steelworkers Union. He's a great dad and Todd is four-time world champion of the longest snow machine race in the world, the iron-dog. Todd and I along with the McCains, are so glad to be here in the keystone state. You're such a welcoming and such a patriotic state. We love being here. And I know that we have many patriots in the crowd today.

And let me ask just for a second, those of you, if you would raise your hands, who are veterans today or have served in the past, serving today, raise your hands and let us honor you.

(APPLAUSE)

And we do. We do thank you for your service and for your sacrifice. And now Pennsylvania is going to be a hard-fought contest here. It's going to come down to the wire here. Pennsylvania, are you ready to help carry this state to victory?

(APPLAUSE)

Are you ready to make John McCain the next president of the United States?

(APPLAUSE)

Are you ready to send us to Washington to shake things up?

(APPLAUSE)

Well, it is just a week from today, America, a week from today will be our time for choosing.

(APPLAUSE)

PALIN: I don't know. When we hear protests like that, I'm always attempted to tell security, no let them stay. Maybe they can learn a thing or two from all of you. Pennsylvania, we need a leader. We need a leader now who is ready to lead on day one. We need a leader with experience and good judgment and truthfulness. We need someone who talks about the wars that America is fighting and isn't afraid to use the word victory.

(APPLAUSE)

John served our country in uniform for 22 years, he spent 5 1/2 years as a P.O.W. and he knows how to win a war. And as Cindy suggested, there are two, as a mother of one of the troops in Iraq now, that's exactly the kind of man I want as our commander in chief. We know when it comes to national security it is a given. We know the choice is so clear it must be John McCain.

But on taxes, also, on our economy, you have such a clear choice. I want to talk about this for a minute because our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans. It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaigning to call someone out on their record and their plans and their associations. It is not negative campaigning. It's in fairness to you, to the voters.

Now, you have to really listen to our opponent's words through all this. Listen to what he's saying because now he had been hiding behind his real agenda of redistributing your hard-earned money. He says that he's for a tax credit which is when government takes more of your money and gives it away to someone else according to a politician's priorities. Now, that's as opposed to John McCain who is for a real tax cut which means when government takes less of your earnings in the first place.

I've really got to hand it to Joe the plumber there in Toledo, Ohio. Somehow Joe got our opponent to finally state his intentions. Our opponent in plain language and Senator Obama now saying that he wants to spread the wealth. And what that means -- what that means is government taking more of your money and money from our small businesses and then doling it out however the politician sees fit. And Barack Obama calls that spreading the wealth. And Joe Biden calls higher taxes -- he calls that patriotic. But to Joe the plumber, Joe said it sounded to him like socialism.

(APPLAUSE)

Now is not the time to experiment with that. And a lot of folks around the country, they identify with Joe. We see posters that say "Doug the Barber" and "Cindy the Citizen." I like the one up here, "Joe the Chocolate Maker."

(APPLAUSE)

Or the one I saw the other night that I am "Joe Mamma." And yesterday -- yesterday I got to meet in Virginia with Tido Munos (ph), he owns a small construction company. And we call him Tido the builder. And Tido is not pleased with how the Obama campaign and his media friends have been roughing up Joe the plumber. Of course, they're investigating and attacking him, Joe, just for merely asking a question. So Tido has a question of his own, and Barack Obama won't like this one either. But Tido wants to know, and I quote, he says, "why the heck are you going after Joe the plumber? Joe the plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that so wrong?"

(APPLAUSE)

Tido is an immigrant from Colombia, a U.S. citizen now. And he had this reminder, he says, everything is possible in America. And I made it and Joe the plumber can make it even bigger than me. He said --

(APPLAUSE)

He said I was born in Colombia but I was made in the USA.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

PALIN: And Tido isn't the only McCain supporter who feels that way. In fact, I know we have a lot of small business owners right here today with us, and you feel the way that Tido feels. And if you're like these hard-working people here, if you work hard and you know what hard work feels like and if you believe that America is the land of possibilities and you don't want your dreams dashed by the Obama tax increase, and if you don't like the way that our opponents have treated a guy who just asked a simple question, then I'll tell you you're Joe the plumber, too, and we're all in this together, Pennsylvania.

(APPLAUSE)

So it doesn't sound like too many of you are supporting Barack the wealth-spreader, not on November 4th. And that is because you understand -- you understand that his plan to redistribute wealth will ultimately punish hard work and it discourages productivity. And I tell you, it's going to stifle the entrepreneurial spirit that made this the greatest country on earth.

(APPLAUSE)

So John has a different plan. He has a better plan. He will bring tax relief to every American and every business. He will lower your income taxes and will double the child tax deduction for every family.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll cut the capital gains tax and we will cut business taxes to keep American businesses in America.

(APPLAUSE)

We will keep more American money in America, too, in our administration. We'll set this nation firmly on a course of energy independence. And we'll drill here, we'll drill now.

(APPLAUSE)

Drill, baby, drill!

AUDIENCE: Drill, baby, drill! Drill, baby, drill! Drill, baby, drill!

PALIN: You bet you we'll drill, baby, drill and we'll mine, baby, mine because we need American energy resources brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers.

(APPLAUSE)

So, Hershey, it is going to come down to the wire here on November 4th, and it's going to come down to what we believe in. And our opponents put their faith in government. John and I, we put our faith in all of you. And --

(APPLAUSE)

-- what John McCain and I believe in is what Ronald Reagan believed in. We believe in the forward movement of freedom and not the constant expansion of government. And we believe that those virtues of freedom, as John McCain has proved, they are worth fighting for.

(APPLAUSE)

And we believe that the best of America is not all gathered in Washington, D.C.; we believe that it is here in the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday, hard-working Americans, those of you who run our factories and grow our food and teach our children and fight our wars. This is where the goodness of America is.

(APPLAUSE)

See, John and I believe that America is not the problem. America is the solution. And we do believe that America is that shining city on a hill that Reagan used to speak of. And I thank God that we have a man who is ready and worthy to lead it, someone who inspires us with heroic and trustworthy deeds and not just words.

(APPLAUSE)

So Pennsylvania, if you believe in what we believe in, and if you're ready to shake up Washington and clean up Wall Street, and if you're ready to get our economy back on the right track, and if you're ready to win the war, we need your vote.

(APPLAUSE)

Because you know until -- from now until Election Day, a week from now, you're going to hear our opponents go on and on in their claims of how they'll fight for you. But since he won't usually say this on his own behalf, I'm going to say it for him -- Pennsylvania, there is only one man in this race who has ever really fought for you.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you, John. Thank you John.

Only one man with the courage to keep on fighting for you. It's my pleasure to introduce to you the next president of the United States, John McCain.

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Isn't this just going to be a marvelous vice president of the United States of America?

(APPLAUSE)

You know, I couldn't be more pleased because of your enthusiasm for her. But I guarantee you there's only one place in America they're not going to be enthusiastic, and that's the old boy network in Washington, D.C. when I bring her there. And we're going to clean it up. And we're going to fix it. And she's going to show them what reform is all about, the same way she did in the state of Alaska, my friends.

(APPLAUSE)

By the way, when two mavericks join up, we don't agree on everything. But that's a lot of fun. And I'm telling you -- and also could I mention again Todd. Sarah mentioned -- one of those races, the last 250 miles he broke his arm and finished the race. You think he's afraid of anything in Washington, D.C.?

(APPLAUSE)

Can I again thank Cindy McCain, a wonderful mother and the future first lady of the United States? Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

I'd like to say a word of gratitude and thanks and appreciation for Tom Ridge who is the best governor of this state that Pennsylvania has had, a friend and comrade --

(APPLAUSE)

-- a friend and comrade who served this nation in war and in peace.

So, my friends, it's wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania. And it's wonderful to fool the pundits because we're going to win the state of Pennsylvania. We're going to win it on November 4th. You're going to get out the vote, and we're going to win.

(APPLAUSE)

We can't spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight, hoping for our luck to change at home and abroad. We have to act. We need a new direction and we have to fight for it. And I've been fighting for this country since I was 17 years old, and I have the scars to prove it, my friends.

(APPLAUSE)

If I'm elected president, Sarah and I will fight to shake up Washington and take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight. I'm ready for it.

(APPLAUSE)

We have a plan to hold the line on taxes. Cut them, to make America more competitive, create jobs here at home. We're going to double the child deduction for working families. We'll cut the capital gains tax. We'll cut business taxes to help create jobs and keep American businesses in America. That's what we're going to do.

(APPLAUSE) Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. That's a lesson of history which our opponents ignore. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy. If I'm elected president, I won't spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money. Senator Obama will. And he can't do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll freeze government spending. And of course we can freeze government spending. We'll freeze it on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care, until we scrub every single government program, get rid of the ones that aren't working for the American people. And I'll veto every single pork barrel bill that comes across my desk. You will know them. You will know their names and we'll make them famous.

AUDIENCE: No more pork! No more pork! No more pork!

MCCAIN: No more pork. That's right.

AUDIENCE: No more pork! No more pork! No more pork! No more pork!

MCCAIN: My friends, I'm not going to spend $750 billion of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the working people who are devastated by the excesses, greed and corruption of Wall Street and Washington. And my friends, I have a plan to fix our housing market so that your home value doesn't go down when your neighbor defaults, so that people in danger of default have a path to pay off their loans. Go out and buy up these bad mortgages, give them a mortgage they can afford and stay with the American dream of owning your own home. That's what we need to do.

(APPLAUSE)

Let people stay in their homes. It was the housing crisis that started this. And it's the housing values coming back up that are going to get us out.

My friends, we're going to stop -- we're going to stop, if I'm elected president, spending $700 billion, sending it overseas to countries that don't like us very much to buy their oil. We're going to stop it.

(APPLAUSE)

My friends, the other night in a debate I paid great appreciation to Senator Obama's eloquence. But you've got to pay attention to his words. When he talked about offshore drilling he said, well I did, blah, blah, blah, all this. And then he said -- then he said, I will consider -- I will consider offshore -- we don't need to consider. We need to drill now and we need to drill --

(APPLAUSE)

-- He says that he's -- quote -- "for nuclear power," but he doesn't want to store and he doesn't want to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. You can't get there from here. Tell Senator Obama the fact is -- the fact is we've been sailing Navy ships around the world with nuclear power on them, and it's safe, and we can reprocess and we can store and we can create 700,000 new jobs by building 45 new nuclear power plants.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll encourage the manufacturer of hybrid, flex fuel and electric automobiles. And my friends, we will invest in clean coal technology, and clean coal will lead us.

(APPLAUSE)

And we will create millions of jobs. The United States of America, including the state of Pennsylvania, sits on the world's largest coal reserves. We'll use coal and clean coal technology to get us out of this ditch.

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AUDIENCE: We've got coal! We've got coal! We've got coal!

MCCAIN: We've learned -- you've got coal. That's right.

And you've got independence and you've got judgment. And that's why we're going to win this election on November the 4th.

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We've learned more about Senator Obama's real goals for our country over the last two weeks than we learned over the past two years. And that's only because Joe the plumber asked him a question in Ohio.

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That's when Senator Obama revealed he wants to -- quote -- "spread the wealth around." And now, more and more are coming to light that he's wanted to spread the wealth around for a long time my friends. Now Joe didn't -- Joe didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. And he didn't ask to be famous. He certainly didn't ask for the political attacks on him from the Obama campaign. Joe's dream is every American's dream, to own a small business that will create jobs, and the attacks on him are an attack on small businesses all over this nation.

Small businesses -- small businesses employ 84 percent of Americans. We need to support small business, not tax them.

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After months of campaign trail eloquence, we finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is, to spread the wealth. In a radio interview he revealed this week, he said the same thing, that one of the -- quote -- "tragedies of the civil rights movement is that it didn't bring about redistributive change." Can you imagine? You see, Senator Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs. He said that even though lower taxes on investment help our economy, he favors higher taxes on investment for -- quote -- "fairness." There's nothing fair about driving our economy into the ground. We all suffer when that happens.

But that's the problem with Senator Obama's approach to our economy. He's more interested in controlling wealth than creating it, in redistributing money instead of spreading opportunity. I'm going to create wealth for all Americans by creating opportunity for all Americans.

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Senator Obama is running to be redistributionist in chief. I'm running to be commander-in-chief.

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Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth. I'm running to create wealth. Senator Obama is running to punish the successful. I'm running to make everyone successful.

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Senator Obama has made a lot of promises. First he said people making less than $250,000 would benefit from his plan. Then this weekend he announced in an ad that if you're a family making less than $200,000, you'll benefit. But yesterday, right here in Pennsylvania, Senator Biden said tax relief should only go to middle class people, people making under $150,000 a year. Are you getting an idea of what's on their mind? A little sneak peek. It's interesting how their definition of rich has a way of creeping down. At this rate, it won't be long before Senator Obama is right back to his vote that Americans making just $42,000 a year should get a tax increase.

We can't let that happen. We won't let that happen.

My opponent's massive new tax increase is exactly the wrong approach in an economic slowdown. The answer to a slowing economy isn't higher taxes. But that's exactly what's going to happen when the Democrats have total control of Washington. We can't let that happen. We need a pro-growth, pro-jobs economic policy --

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-- not pro-government spending programs paid for with higher taxes. This, my friends, is the fundamental difference between Senator Obama and me. We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is he thinks taxes have been too low. I think that spending has been too high.

(APPLAUSE) If we're going to change Washington, we need a president who has actually fought for change and made it happen. The next president won't have time to get used to the office. We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. And my friends, I will bring our troops home with honor and victory and not in defeat. They will come home with victory.

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Have you ever heard the word victory pass Senator Obama's lips?

AUDIENCE: No!

MCCAIN: My friends, we're winning in Iraq. We'll win in Afghanistan thanks to the brave young Americans who are serving who want to win.

You know, just the other day Senator Biden warned that, in his words, he said, mark my words, Senator Obama would be tested with an international crisis. My friends, I've been tested. Senator Obama hasn't.

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Senator Biden referred to how Jack Kennedy was tested in the Cuban Missile Crisis. And I have a little personal experience in that. I was on board the USS Enterprise. I sat in the cockpit of an airplane on the flight deck waiting to take off. We had a target. I know how close we came to a nuclear war. An I will not be a president that needs to be tested.

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We already know that Senator Obama won't have the right response to that test because we've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign. He opposed the surge strategy that's bringing us victory in Iraq and will bring us victory in Afghanistan. He said he would sit down unconditionally with the world's worst dictators. When Russia invaded Georgia, Senator Obama said the invaded country should show restraint. He's been wrong on all of these. When I'm president of the United States we're going to win in Iraq, win in Afghanistan, our troops will come home and you will be proud and they will be proud.

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Now, my friends, let me give you the state of the race today. There's one week to go. We're a few points down. The pundits wrote us off, as they have several times before. My opponent is out working out the details with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid on their plans to raise your taxes -- raise your taxes, increase spending and concede defeat in Iraq. He's measuring the drapes and he's planned his first address to the nation before the election. By the way, no one will delay the World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president.

(APPLAUSE) I guess I'm old-fashioned about these things. I prefer to let the voters weigh in before presuming the outcome.

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What America needs now is someone who will finish the race before starting the victory lap. Someone who will fight to the end, not for himself but for his country. I have fought for you most of my life in places where defeat meant more than returning to the Senate. There are other ways to love this country. But I've never been the kind to back down when the stakes are high.

Now --

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-- now, my friends, I know you're worried. America is a great country. We're at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. And I want to ask you, will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?

My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country.

(APPLAUSE)

But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom. I'm an American and I choose to fight. Don't give up hope. Be strong. Have courage and fight. Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what's right for America. Fight to clean up the massive corruption, infighting and selfishness in America. Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for.

Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We make history. We don't hide from history. Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again.

Thank you and God bless you. God bless America. Thank you. Thank you.

COLLINS: Senator John McCain there finishing up with a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Before him, we heard his running mate, vice presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin.

That's it for us today. I'm Heidi Collins. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

For now CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.

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