A bare-knuckle spot but one for which Maverick will end up taking a beating. The peg here is what The One said yesterday in that video clip circulated by the RNC about “long-term fundamentals.” Absent context, it sounded like he was voicing the same optimism he’d been beating up on McCain for. Was he? Patterico sent this along late last night:

Obama’s campaign asserted that the Republican National Committee was taking the comment completely out of context because Obama was not talking about the economy, but about his economic plan.

“We don’t just need a plan for bankers and investors, we need a plan for autoworkers and teachers and small business owners,” Obama said. “I have said it before and I’ll say it again: we need to pass, after this immediate crisis is over, an economic stimulus plan. Right now. For working families – a plan that will help folks cope with rising food and gas prices, that can save one million jobs by rebuilding our schools and our roads, and help states and cities avoid budget cuts and tax increases. A plan that would extend expiring unemployment benefits. For those Americans who have lost their jobs and have been working hard to find a new one, but haven’t found one yet. That’s part of the change we need.

“And then after this immediate problem, we’ve got the long-term fundamentals that will really make sure this economy grows. Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses that deserve it. As president I am going to eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups. That’s how we’ll grow our economy and create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.”

As I understand him, he’s saying that the long-term fundamentals are currently bad, which is why we need a hard dose of Hopenchange to make them grow, not that the fundamentals are “strong,” as McCain (initially) claimed. Pretty shady of Maverick, but one good turn deserves another.