Stage to himself, Obama attacks McCain on economy

With recession in the air and gasoline surpassing $4 a gallon, presumptive presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama focused on the economy on Monday...

With recession in the air and gasoline surpassing $4 a gallon, presumptive presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama focused on the economy on Monday, each accusing the other of not understanding how it works.

Obama launched his “Change That Works for You” tour in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he blamed much of the nation’s economic troubles on the Bush administration and policies that he said are “little more than the worn dogma that says we should give more to those at the top and hope that their good fortune trickles down to the many who are hardworking”.

Stronger government investment in healthcare, education, energy and the infrastructure could have lessened some of the economic impact, he said. “We did not arrive at the doorstep of our current economic situation by some accident of history,” Obama said. “This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid.”

Story continues below this ad

But “this nation has faced such fundamental change before, and each time we’ve kept our economy strong” by expanding the middle class and investing in innovation and education, he said. “For all of George Bush’s professed faith in free markets, the markets have hardly been free — not when the gates of Washington are thrown open to high-priced lobbyists who rig the rules of the road and riddle our tax code with special interest favours,” Obama said.

He blamed “special-interest driven policies and lax regulation” for “a housing crisis that could leave up to 2 million homeowners facing foreclosure”.

McCain’s campaign charged that Obama’s economic solutions would “further weaken our economy”. “While hardworking families are hurting and employers are vulnerable, Barack Obama has promised higher income taxes, Social Security taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, and tax hikes on job creating businesses,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

Obama planned to be in St Louis on Monday evening for a fundraiser as he targets Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida over the next few days.

Story continues below this ad

New national polls over the weekend showed evidence of a fluid race. The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll gave Obama a 48% to 40% lead over McCain, a bounce from dead-even at 46% before Hillary Rodham Clinton abandoned her campaign on Saturday. The poll also affirmed that the economy is the top political issue five months ahead of election day, with half of the poll respondents saying that to buy groceries they have had to curtail spending in other areas.

Meanwhile, an independent campaign took aim at McCain over lobbyists who worked on his campaign, unveiling an ad targeting McCain and an Air Force decision to award a $100 million contract to a consortium that includes the European company Airbus.