Giuliani assails Edwards, Obama

By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer Fri Jul 27, 6:32 PM ET
DALLAS - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who has called Democrats "the party of losers," specifically criticized John Edwards and Barack Obama on Friday for their proposals on tax reform and diplomacy.
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One day after lashing out at Democrats for seeking a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq — and drawing a sharp rebuke, Giuliani singled out Democratic rivals Edwards and Obama.
Edwards offered a proposal on taxes Thursday that calls for increasing the rates for the wealthy and providing breaks for the middle class. The plan would raise the top tax rate on long-term capital gains.
"This is a Democratic program to drive businesses and jobs out of the United States of America," Giuliani said at a restaurant. "Capital gains are realized by a lot of middle-class people who have investments in mutual funds. This is a tax on everybody."
On Monday, Obama suggested that as president he would be willing to meet with leaders of nations such as Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea without preconditions — a notion that has drawn scorn for his Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Giuliani called it a "terrible mistake," adding: "Fidel Castro is a dictator and he is a murderer. He should not be visiting with U.S. presidents."
On Thursday, during a stop in Houston, Giuliani called Democrats "the party of losers" for demanding a scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.
"Democrats have already declared we've lost," the former New York mayor said. "It's really strange. The Democrats want to give our enemies a timetable."
That drew a quick retort from Democratic candidate Sen. Joe Biden.
"It is absurd for Rudy Giuliani to call Democrats 'losers' after five years of failed Republican policies in Iraq," the Delaware senator said in a statement issued Friday.
Biden said cheap shots wouldn't make the United States or its troops any safer.
"Giuliani and the rest of the Republican candidates continue to cling to this administration's failed policy that a strong central government can be propped up in Iraq," Biden said. "If these are the positions he wants to defend, I invite him to debate me on these important topics."
Giuliani sidestepped a question on whether embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign, saying the case has been distorted by partisanship in Washington.
"I think in the last six months it is quite possible the Democrats in Congress have set a record for subpoenas," he said.