McCain Campaign on Obama's 'Vague' Economic Plan

On the McCain campaign conference call this morning, which was almost as long as some of the Clinton calls have been, Doug Holtz-Eakin and Carly Fiorina said that the Democratic candidates “mischaracterize” John McCain’s position on the economy.

“To describe McCain’s position as ‘do-nothing’ and ‘stand back and watch,’” former Hewlett-Packard C.E.O. Fiorina said, “is politics of the worst sort.”

She went on (while speeding down the highway in a car, she told reporters listening in) to describe the economic plans of both Democratic candidates as “vague” and to describe the position of both “John McCain and the Republican Party” as one that aimed to “put money and power and choice into the hands of people” and holds to the position that “the government should be the actor of last resort, not the actor of first resort.” Then her cell phone cut out.

Holtz-Eakin, one of McCain’s senior policy advisers, echoed the Clinton campaign criticism of Obama when he said of Obama’s economic speech, “I think these are wonderful words,” with a touch of condescension. He went on to say that McCain and Obama have a similar “bottom line” on the economy: transparency and accountability.

“That’s very nice,” Holtz-Eakin said, “but the devil will be in the details.”