Barack Obama and John McCain focus on economy
In the wake of the Sarah Palin-Joe Biden debate, Obama presses the theme that his opponent is out of touch on the issue. McCain calls for protecting the middle class from 'crony capitalism.'
The economy took center stage today as presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain pressed their recovery plans a day after their running mates debated.
"How about that debate last night," Obama told a cheering crowd in Abington High School outside of Philadelphia. "Didn't Joe Biden -- a fellow that some people call the third senator from Pennsylvania -- didn't he do a great job?"
Biden, a Delaware senator, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, debated for 90 minutes in St. Louis on Thursday night. Today, Biden saw his 39-year-old son and his National Guard unit off to Iraq, and Palin will campaign in Texas.
But in the wake of a harsher than expected unemployment report released this morning and a debate in the House of Representatives on a $700-billion emergency rescue package for the economy, the presidential candidates focused on the economy, which polls have long shown was the principal issue in the election.
"There were a lot of noteworthy moments in that debate, but there's one that sticks out this morning," Obama said. "It's when Governor Palin said to Joe Biden that our plan to get our economy out of the ditch was somehow a job-killing plan.
"I wonder if she turned on the news this morning," he said to cheers.
Obama then argued that the economy has lost more than 750,000 jobs across America -- 7,000 in Pennsylvania, where 21 electoral votes are up for grabs. Obama then sounded the theme his campaign has been using for weeks: that McCain is out of touch and will continue the Bush administration's policies.
"This is the economy that John McCain said - just two weeks ago - was fundamentally strong. This is the economy that my opponent said made great progress under the policies of George W. Bush. And those are the economic policies that he proposes to continue for another four years," Obama said.
McCain will hold a town hall-style meeting later today at Colorado State University in Pueblo.
"Today's report of another 159,000 lost jobs confirms what America's working men and women have understood for months: Our nation's economy is on the wrong track," the McCain campaign said this morning in a prepared statement. "It is imperative that Congress act to address the financial crisis while protecting taxpayers and being good stewards of their dollars."
As he has before, McCain called for changes to protect the middle class from "crony capitalism." He also called for an end to wasteful federal spending and said he would seek a balanced budget.
michael.muskal@latimes.com
