Obama Meets With U.S. Mayors, Touts Housing Bill
By Beth Reinhard, The Miami Herald
Jun. 22–Making his pitch to a key group of power brokers, Barack Obama promised hundreds of mayors gathered in Miami that he would push back on President Bush’s threatened veto of legislation aimed at rescuing homeowners facing foreclosure.
The bill would allow the federal government to insure $300 billion in new loans so homeowners who can’t pay their mortgages could refinance. The legislation is a priority for many mayors whose cities are faltering under the housing crisis.
“If George Bush carries out his threat to veto the housing bill — a bill that would provide critical resources to help you solve the foreclosure crisis in your towns and cities — I will fight to overturn his veto and make sure you have the support you need,” Obama said.
The presumptive Democratic nominee also took on his Republican rival, John McCain, assailing him for wanting to continue Bush’s tax cuts that favor wealthy Americans and supporting a proposed a gas-tax “holiday” that he said would not lower prices at the pump. Obama had sharp words for McCain’s opposition to a $23 billion package in Congress that included money for levees, though McCain recently traveled to Iowa to meet with victims of the devastating flood.
“I’m sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it more if he hadn’t opposed legislation to fund levees and flood-control programs, which he seems to consider pork,” Obama said.
McCain’s campaign argued that the Arizona senator tried to amend the legislation to weed out wasteful spending and make sure crucial levees got priority.
“It is beyond the pale that Barack Obama would attack John McCain for actually trying to fix the problem and change the way Washington works,” said a campaign statement.
ENDORSEMENTS
Obama received a warm reception from the packed ballroom at the InterContinental Miami Hotel, but he did not leave town with an endorsement from the conference’s host and newly installed president, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.
“I’ll just endorse on my own schedule,” said Diaz, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, adding that the mayors group is a nonpartisan organization.
Diaz refused to say whether his reluctance stemmed from concerns raised by a few dozen Cuban exile protesters outside the hotel. They called Obama a “communist,” pointing to two key campaign advisors who helped return Cuban rafter Elian Gonzalez to his father on the island eight years ago. Republican state Rep. David Rivera of Miami stood on the group’s fringes, waving an American flag.
Diaz’s work on the legal team that sought to keep Elian with his relatives in Miami helped him gain Cuban-American support when he ran for mayor.
At a news conference Friday in Jacksonville, Obama called the dispute a “wrenching situation” but said he was focused on working toward a free Cuba.
In contrast to Diaz, another big-city Clinton supporter, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, offered a hearty endorsement and claimed Obama has “overwhelming support from mayors across America.” A number of other Democratic mayors also offered endorsements, including Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, Miramar Mayor Lori Moseley and Tallahassee Mayor John Marks.
Obama, a former community organizer from Chicago, said he would heed the mayors’ wish list, which includes additional community development grants and police on the street. Obama also said he would appoint the first White House director of urban policy to serve as a go-to contact for mayors across the country.
“It’s time to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq and start investing that money in Phoenix, Nashville, Seattle and metro areas across this country,” he said.
Before Obama’s speech, the McCain campaign arranged for three mayoral supporters in Florida to talk to reporters. They slammed Obama’s domestic agenda and defended McCain’s call to open up oil drilling along the U.S. coast, as long as states affected had final say.
CASTRO COMES UP
The McCain campaign was put in an awkward position, however, when former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, a Democrat who supports McCain, talked about meeting with Fidel Castro. McCain has repeatedly condemned the former Cuban leader as a brutal dictator unworthy of meeting with U.S. officials.
“Guess what I saw over there on the road from Havana to the Varadero [beach resort],” Greco said. “On the beach itself, there were oil wells.”
The Democratic National Committee responded: “[The] McCain campaign’s use of Fidel Castro’s beachfront oil rigs to defend John McCain’s decision to cave in to Big Oil on coastal drilling is a stunning example of how little Senator McCain understands the challenges facing our country.”
Obama’s speech came during his second trip to Florida since he clinched the nomination on June 3. Signaling his intent to wage a competitive campaign despite his boycott of the state’s presidential primary, Obama included Florida in an 18-state advertising sweep that began Friday.
McCain’s campaign said he could not address the mayors because he was in Canada and Arizona. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to address the group Sunday.
Miami Herald staff writers Matthew I. Pinzur and Myriam Marquez contributed to this report.
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