Biden: Halloween Costume Wouldn't Make McCain The Change Candidate

October 24, 2008 2:54 p.m. EST

Charleston, WV (AHN) - Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) hit Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Friday for distancing himself from President George W. Bush, saying even a Halloween costume wouldn't make McCain the candidate of change.

"In the last debate, John McCain felt the need to declare that he's not President Bush," Biden said. "And just yesterday, John McCain actually went so far as to try to compare Barack Obama to George W. Bush."

"John McCain voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time... I know Halloween is coming. But John McCain as the candidate of change? That's one costume the American people aren't going to buy," the Democratic vice presidential candidate added.

McCain had delivered one of his strongest lines during the third and final presidential debate earlier this month. "Senator Obama, I am not President George Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago," he had said.

With the election less than a month away, an economic crisis worrying voters and polls showing him trailing Obama, McCain has continued blaming Bush since then. His first post-debate TV ad had him looking at the camera and speaking directly to voters. "The last eight years haven't worked very well, have they? I'll make the next four better," he said.

On Thursday, the Republican senator went even further in his statement on the Labor Department's report that unemployment claims rose to the highest level in five years.

McCain said, "Barack Obama's only answer is to double-down on the Bush Administration's legacy of out-of-control spending, raise taxes on small businesses, impose mandates on employers, and raise trade barriers - a time-proven recipe for turning tough economic times into terrible economic circumstances."

The same day, McCain recited a litany of failures by the Bush administration in an interview with the Washington Times.

In his Friday speech, Biden also decried Republican robocalls, calling them once more "scurrilous." He said they "lie about Barack Obama and question his character," and quoted a call center agent who was fired for refusing to read some robocalls.

"I want to read part of what Chaylee said when she was interviewed, 'Democrat or Republican, I wouldn't have done this'... Chaylee recognized that regardless of your personal politics, attacks like that don't hurt Barack. They're an attempt to further divide the country," Biden said.

Biden campaigns in Suffolk, Virginia on Saturday. His wife, Jill, on Friday began a two-day tour of Florida, where early voting is underway.