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US economy on the agenda
08/07/2008 10:58 - (SA)
Washington - Democrat Barack Obama sought to link Republican rival John McCain to President George W Bush's economic policies as the two presidential candidates manoeuvred for the upper hand on an issue that is of key concern to voters.
The economy, and especially its impact on the middle class, has emerged as the focus of the presidential campaign, given skyrocketing fuel prices, high job losses and rising food costs. It is a tough issue for Republicans, with Bush's approval ratings at low levels after two terms in office.
Both candidates were launching weeklong efforts to highlight their differences.
Obama said that McCain offers a third term of Bush's policies.
"John McCain's policies are essentially a repeat, a regurgitation of what we've been hearing from the Republican Party over the last two decades, maybe three," Obama said on Monday in St Louis, where his plane made an unscheduled stop because of mechanical problems that forced him to cancel an appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina. "It's part of the reason that we're in the situation that we find ourselves in right now."
McCain has been forced into a more defensive crouch because his party has held the White House while jobs, home values, stock prices and consumer confidence have tumbled.
While calling Obama's plans expensive and unwise on Monday, he tried to distance himself from his fellow Republican Bush where he could.
"This Congress and this administration have failed to meet their responsibilities to manage the government," McCain said in Denver. "Government has grown by 60% in the last eight years. That is simply inexcusable."
Images may need some work
He promised to veto "every single bill with wasteful spending".
McCain has said the economy is not his strong suit, and on Monday he seemed eager to show a deeper understanding of the topic, even as he dismissed experts.
"Some economists don't think much of my gas tax holiday," he said of his plan to temporarily suspend the federal levy on motor fuels. "But the American people like it, and so do small business owners."
Obama calls that plan a gimmick that will not lower gasoline prices.
The Democratic senator favours tax cuts for middle-class workers and tax increases for top earners. He calls for substantial government subsidies for health care, college, retirement and alternative energies.
McCain pledges to cut taxes for all and raise them on none. Government should shrink, not grow, he told his audience in Denver.
As the candidates hammered out their economic platforms, a new Associated Press-Yahoo News poll shows they also may have some work to do on their images.
When the people polled were asked to blurt out their first words about the candidates, one in five said "change" or "outsider" for Obama and "old" for McCain, according to the poll released on Monday. Those are not only the top responses for each man but the answers that have grown the most since January, when fewer than one in 10 volunteered those descriptions.
Breaking from tradition
Lack of experience is the next most frequently offered view of Obama, 46, the Democrat who came to the Senate from Illinois less than four years ago; for McCain, 71, the Republican senator from Arizona and Vietnam prisoner of war, it is his military service.
Obama is seen as warmer and more empathetic, McCain stronger and tougher. When people are asked whether specific words and phrases apply to each man, the Democrat does 12 percentage points better for caring about "people like you" and is 11 points more likeable. McCain has a 24-point edge as a military leader and is nine points more decisive.
McCain is seen as more capable on hard-edged problems like Iraq, terrorism and guns, while Obama is preferred on domestic matters like the economy, the environment and education.
The AP-Yahoo News poll, conducted by Knowledge Networks, has surveyed about 2 000 people since November to gauge how individuals' views are changing during the presidential campaign.
Perhaps illustrating his "change" image, Obama confirmed on Monday that he will break from tradition to accept the Democratic presidential nomination at a Denver sports stadium that can seat 76 000 people, rather than at the smaller site that is hosting the party's national convention across town.
That would allow more people to attend the historic event in August, as Obama officially becomes the first black nominee of a major US political party. Most of the convention will take place at the 21 000-seat Pepsi Centre.
Separately, one official confirmed that Obama's aides were attempting to arrange a speech at a second dramatic venue: Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, part of Obama's July trip to Europe and the Middle East.
- AP
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US Elections Special Report
