McCain did not spend much time on the proposal during the debate, though, and it was unclear that his plan was the kind of dramatic stroke that might stop what has appeared to be a gradual increase in voters' support for Obama.
Most polls have shown a shift of voters, especially women and self-described independents, toward the Democratic candidate over the last three weeks. That movement has coincided with the sharpening of the nation's economic crisis.
In an NBC-Wall Street Journal Poll released Monday, 6 in 10 voters said the economy would be the most important issue in determining their vote, and those respondents favored Obama by a wide margin.
Throughout the campaign, voters have said they considered the Democrat more able to handle economic problems, even as they said they considered the Republican more able to handle foreign policy issues.
McCain sought to remind voters Tuesday of their doubts about Obama's experience and knowledge on international issues, chiding the Democrat for stating openly that he would send U.S. troops to pursue terrorist leader Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan.
"Teddy Roosevelt used to say . . . talk softly but carry a big stick. Sen. Obama likes to talk loudly," McCain said.
He said the nation needs "a cool hand at the tiller" and, later, "a steady hand at the tiller."
But if McCain partisans were hoping to see the Arizona senator follow the advice of his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to "take the gloves off" and attack Obama more vigorously, they probably came away disappointed.
McCain repeated oft-made charges that Obama was a liberal who never bucked his party's leaders, a big spender who would raise taxes, and an inexperienced hand at foreign policy -- but he said it in terms considerably milder than what he has used on the campaign trail.
Nor did McCain mention Palin, a favorite of GOP conservatives. In an effort to show his bipartisan bent, he did mention independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, three times.
Obama, meanwhile, repeated his charges that McCain had helped deregulate the financial institutions that are at the root of the economic crisis and that the Republican sought tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. But he spent most of his time emphasizing his own empathy for the voters' economic concerns.
He used the word "you" or "your" more than 90 times, as in: "A lot of you, I think, are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts, your ability to send your child or your grandchild to college."
