Obama ridicules McCain charge he's socialist

RALEIGH, N.C. — Barack Obama accused Republican rival John McCain on Wednesday of stooping to low tactics by labeling the Democrat a socialist.

"I don't know what's next," Obama, the presidential candidate, said at an outdoor rally in North Carolina. "By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Obama turned to ridicule to rebut McCain's daily references to Obama's encounter with "Joe the Plumber." McCain has capitalized on a moment when Obama told an Ohio plumber that he wanted to "spread the wealth around" by boosting taxes on wealthier people to finance a middle class tax cut.

The rally in North Carolina's capitol opened a day when Obama will be a one-man television blitz, saturating prime-time with a 30-minute ad and popping up on late-night TV scene. He is also giving an interview to a prominent network news anchor, and appearing with fellow Democratic star Bill Clinton at a rally timed to hit the late-evening news.

The 30-minute infomercial is Obama's final opportunity to reach a mass audience to discuss his principles of governing. Obama's proposals will be showcased through the stories of four different Americans who illustrate specific national challenges and how Obama would address them, the campaign said.

Obama himself will speak in the video — at times with a group of voters, at others directly to the audience. The 30 minutes will end by cutting to a live appearance by Obama in Kissimmee, Fla., though the campaign said that would be a small portion of the half-hour video.

The video features footage shot by Davis Guggenheim, the director and executive producer of former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth." Guggenheim, the son of award-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim, also was a producer and director on the HBO series "Deadwood."

In Raleigh, Obama painted a bleak picture of a McCain presidency. He said voters would get no help paying for college, see their health benefits taxed, and watch tax relief go to the rich.

"So whether you are Suzy the student, or Nancy the nurse, or Tina the teacher, or Carl the construction worker, if my opponent is elected, you will be worse off four years from now than you are today," Obama said. "Let's cut through the negative ads and the phony attacks."