The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr.Abdul Ruff

The US presidential candidates across the political spectrum have mooted their own business visions to boost the weakening US economy. Buoyed by a string of eight consecutive victories, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, Illinois senator, who would be the first black U.S. president if he wins the November election, bashed rival Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and the first ever woman president, if elected, over the ailing U.S. economy last week and also took aim at Republican front-runner John McCain.

The Illinois senator, a day after sweeping three more Democratic presidential contests, unveiled an initiative to produce 5 million new jobs in the green energy sector and promised to create a development bank that would invest $60 billion to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. "We are not standing on the brink of recession due to forces beyond our control," Obama said in Wisconsin. He took a hit at President Bush for the economic state of affairs. "It was a failure of leadership and imagination in Washington-the culmination of decades of decisions that were made or put off without regard to the realities of a global economy."

Obama, made his remarks at a Janesville, Wisconsin plant that produces General Motors' popular sport utility vehicles and has been seen as vulnerable to being closed. He used the occasion to criticize both his main rivals, Democrat Clinton and Republican McCain, saying they had wasted billions of dollars and cost thousands of lives by supporting an unnecessary war in Iraq as U.S. senators.

He accused Clinton, who "tactically" supports Bush terror war, of changing her stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, saying she supported it when it was signed but now says "we need a time-out on trade." "I don't know about a time-out, but I do know this-when I am president, I will not sign another trade agreement unless it has protections for our environment and protections for American workers," Obama said, adding he would end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. But Mrs. Clinton said Obama's ideas for an infrastructure development bank and 5 million green energy sector jobs were taken from her own campaign proposals." If Senator Obama cannot produce his own ideas on the campaign trail, how will he solve new problems as president?" asked Clinton's policy director.

The New York senator dismissed Obama's criticism over the economy, saying his plans fell short on extending health care to all Americans, on dealing with the mortgage crisis and expanding the use of renewable energy. "I don't know how you take on the economy and produce real results for people if you don't stay focused on how we're going to create the good new jobs of the future," she said. "It's a difference between promises and solutions."

While Obama campaigned in Wisconsin, Clinton focused on contests in the heavily populated states of Ohio and Texas in three weeks as her best hope to stop Obama's surge. Tuesday's victories gave Obama scores of additional pledged delegates to the Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention in August.

Republican and a pro-war hawk, McCain, riding his own wave of momentum after sweeping the Republican primaries on Tuesday in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, fired back on Iraq, saying developments showed Democrats had been premature in demanding a withdrawal of U.S. forces. "They said that we would never succeed militarily, then we began to succeed militarily," McCain said in Washington. He is gaining momentum in the Republicans platform and is the most likely candidate for presidency.

Meanwhile Obama is surging ahead of Clinton to obtain the party ticket. Obama had 1,078 pledged delegates to Clinton's 969, and his campaign said it was unlikely the former first lady would be able to catch up. A candidate needs 2,025 to clinch the Democratic nomination. "We believe it's next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count," said David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager. "The only way she could do it is winning most of the rest of the contests by 25 to 30 points."

The former first lady shrugged off Tuesday's losses, saying Obama had been expected to win the contests and congratulating him on his victory. But she issued a challenge, saying: "Tell him to meet me in Texas. We're ready." She is still hopeful of emerging the ultimate winner of the Democratic nomination for presidency. Obama has already convinced himself of being the Democratic candidate. And there goes the musical chair primaries for the US presidency.