McCain calls for federal bailout of homeowners

Divisions over energy
Energy policy illuminated some of the sharpest differences between the candidates.

McCain called for an urgent ramp-up in U.S. drilling for oil, saying it was “vital so we can bridge the gap” until the United States can become energy-independent.

“We’ve got to drill offshore, my friends, and we’ve got to do it now,” he said.

While also calling for some increase in U.S. drilling, Obama warned that “we can’t simply drill our way out of the problem” because doing so would aggravate global warming. He called on Washington to work with private industry to create new clean technologies “that can be exported to China” and other heavily polluting industrial nations.

He called on the public to work harder to make their own homes more energy-efficient, and he said he would promote government incentives for Americans to weatherize their homes and buy energy-efficient U.S.-made automobiles.

Little new ground was broken on foreign policy, a focus of the first debate last month. McCain suggested that Obama was inexperienced, while Obama accused McCain of falsely saying he was not focused on fighting terrorism.

For a change, however, it was Obama who punched back hard after McCain said he would emulate President Theodore Roosevelt’s policy of walking softly while carrying a big stick.

“This is the guy who sang ‘bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’ and talked about annihilating North Korea,” Obama said. “That’s not talking softly.”

McCain goes on the offensive
Aides to both men signaled ahead of time that McCain would try to hit Obama hard, noting his slide in opinion surveys. Three weeks after the Wall Street crisis began, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Obama leading by six points, 49 percent to 43 percent, which equals his biggest margin of the campaign.

Among independents, whom both campaigns see as the key to election, Obama has reversed a large McCain lead in just two weeks, going from 13 points down to four points ahead.

McCain took several shots at his opponent, at one point referring to Obama as “that one” when he criticized his opponent for voting for a Bush-backed energy bill that McCain opposed.

But while defending McCain’s recent tactics, some Republicans said he also needed to engage voters on the issues. Scott Reed, who managed Republican Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, said of the economic crisis: “McCain is suffering because Americans typically punish the party in power.”

McCain’s best bet, Reed said, was to show voters “who has the best solutions.”

Voters said they were eager to hear that.

Gary Reeb of Belmont County, Ohio, said he would be listening closely for answers on “our gas prices, energy prices, the upcoming winter ... how our fuel prices are going to be.”

Meanwhile, Kim White, owner of a beauty salon in Franklin, Tenn., said she hoped Obama and McCain would “focus on small business owners, health insurance, affordable health insurance.”

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