Republicans are rapping Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the eve of Obama’s campaign rally in downtown Des Moines. Stewart Iverson, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, spoke to reporters this morning in a telephone conference call arranged by the Republican National Committee. "Senator Obama has said that he wants to raise taxes, I mean with the capital gains and the income tax which also is the payroll tax and raising the limits that people pay on Social Security I think is the absolute wrong thing to do at this point in time," Iverson said. "With an economy that needs some stimulus raising taxes, I think, would be counterproductive."
Iverson also called on Obama to "denounce" fellow Democratic Senator Tom Harkin’s recent comments about Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Last week Harkin said McCain’s worldview is "trapped" because of his military career, and the military careers of his father and grandfather.
"First of all, we have to have a strong military in the United States. We have to take care of not only ourselves, but help allied nations," Iverson said. "With an all-volunteer Army and Air Force, Marines and Navy — all the branches of service, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to say that John McCain is ‘too military.’"
Iverson was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps.