 "Photo: Jessica Wintz")
Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, D-Del., promised a cheering crowd in downtown Charleston on Friday that he and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., are "competing right to the very end" to win West Virginia in the presidential election.
"We have two major goals in this election," Biden said. "We need to restore the middle class in America. And we need to restore the respect for America again around the world."
The visit Friday marked the first time the Delaware senator had visited West Virginia during the presidential campaign.
Biden called for an additional $200 million in coal sequestration research and accused Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of not supporting clean coal, pointing to comments McCain made to the Sierra Club in 2000 when he said, "in a perfect world we would like to transition away from coal entirely."
"Let me get something straight, because you watch these McCain ads, you wonder what planet are they coming from, Biden said. "John McCain does not believe that clean coal is part of our future. Don't take my word for it. Take his word for it.
"So John, if you're listening stop this malarkey about who's for clean coal. Make no mistake about it. The oil companies have placed their bets on Sarah Palin and John McCain, not on Barack Obama and Joe Biden. That's why Appalachia can't afford to go with McCain and must go with Obama."
Biden also questioned the McCain's repeated claims to be independent of President Bush's administration.
"John McCain is now attacking the Bush budget and Bush fiscal policies, which he voted for," Biden said. "But folks, this is as crazy as, you know, Butch Cassidy attacking the Sundance Kid! I mean, that's a team! These guys have been a team!
"You can't call yourself a maverick when all you have done for the past eight years is be a sidekick. I know Halloween is coming. John McCain says he is for change. Whoa, come on! John McCain and change? He needs a costume for that, folks. The American people aren't going to buy this."
Gov. Joe Manchin, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Robert C. Byrd and Rep. Nick J. Rahall, all D-W.Va., were also at the rally and urged supporters that it is time for West Virginia to elect Democrats to the White House.
Jessica Wintz can be contacted at wintz@marshall.edu.
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