John McCain, trailing in the polls, portrayed Barack Obama last night as a tax-and-spend liberal who lacks the courage to challenge leaders of his own party and would need on-the-job training as president.
In their second televised debate, the candidates stuck closely to substance in a low-key encounter that opened with questions from ordinary voters about the economic crisis gripping the country. Hours before the event began, U.S. financial markets dropped sharply for a fifth straight day. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5 percent and has now plunged by one-third since last October.
Obama went after McCain, as he has throughout the campaign, by attempting to tie him to the unpopular presidency of George W. Bush.
The Democrat called the financial crisis "a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years ... strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain." And he demanded the firing of executives of the AIG insurance company for going on "a $400,000 junket" shortly after the federal government bailed out their firm.
McCain, seeking to put distance between himself and the administration, said that, as president, he would order his Treasury secretary to buy up mortgages from homeowners facing foreclosure and have the loans renegotiated at the lower value of the property. The senator acknowledged that his plan would be expensive, but, he added, "It's my proposal. It's not Senator Obama's proposal. It's not President Bush's proposal."
The plan, which could cost hundreds of billions, was the only major new idea floated by either man. Obama did not respond during the debate but his campaign, in an e-mail to reporters, quoted the Democrat as having said government should considering buying troubled mortgages.
McCain jabbed at Obama's readiness to assume the presidency and over issues such as health care, taxes, earmark spending and nuclear power, stopping occasionally to apologize to the voters seated onstage at Belmont University.
"I know you grow a little weary of this back and forth," McCain said.
Obama, in a similar vein, told the voters that "you're not interested in finger-pointing," then went on to blame McCain and the financial deregulation of the past eight years for the turmoil in credit markets now stoking fears of a worldwide recession.
