Today on the presidential campaign trail
The Associated PressIN THE HEADLINES
Amid financial turmoil, McCain says he would fire SEC chairman ... Obama mocks McCain's call for fire SEC chairman, says vote out Republicans in November ... Biden calls McCain's economic answers 'the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere' ... Palin: Biden will bring experience, sound bites to vice presidential debate ... Michelle Obama says don't vote because 'she's cute'
___
McCain says he would fire SEC chairman
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Republican John McCain, buffeted by criticism about his response to Wall Street's financial problems, said Thursday he would fire the SEC chairman and create a special trust to help strengthen weak institutions.
In all but calling for the firing of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, McCain turned on a fellow Republican and former 17-year House member who served on committees overseeing investor protection and U.S. capital markets. President Bush appointed Cox in 2005.
McCain also tried to counter Democratic rival Barack Obama as the two White House contenders jockeyed to explain how, as president, they would prevent the sort of financial tremors that have shaken the financial industry and consumer confidence this week.
Economic issues traditionally favor Democrats and were expected to be especially potent for Obama in an election cycle after eight years of a Republican White House and a Congress controlled mostly by the GOP. McCain has a long history of opposing government regulation and receives economic advice from former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, an advocate of free-market principles. In addition, McCain has served on and has been chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has regulated — and deregulated — vast parts of the economy.
"The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president and, in my view, has betrayed the public's trust," McCain told a rally in this battleground state. "If I were president today, I would fire him."
In a statement, Cox chalked up McCain's comments to the heat of the campaign. Cox said the financial crisis was "presenting new challenges on an hourly basis" and that "steadiness and reduction of uncertainty" is what the U.S. and the world needed.
___
Obama mocks McCain's call to fire SEC chairman
ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised new ideas Thursday to calm America's financial meltdown and help struggling families avoid mortgage foreclosure, saying "this is not a time for fear and it's not a time for panic."
Obama heaped criticism and sarcasm on John McCain, his Republican rival, and mocked his call to fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"I think that's all fine and good but here's what I think," Obama said. "In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration. Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you."
He said McCain was so out of touch that the White House had to distance itself from his statement Monday that the fundamentals of the economy were sound. President Bush has used that same language but his press secretary would not repeat the line Wednesday in the face of historic financial turbulence.
___
Biden says McCain's economic answers go nowhere
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday called Republican John McCain's answers to the economic crisis "the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere" and said paying higher taxes would be patriotic for wealthier Americans.
Biden said the GOP presidential nominee was out of touch with the problems of average people, comments designed to resonate with voters in economically troubled northeast Ohio and keep pressure on McCain during a week of bad news from U.S. markets and financial institutions.
Biden's two-day bus trip in the region includes stops in areas devastated by thousands of job losses in manufacturing and the auto industry. With the economy a top concern in Ohio, polls were tight in this essential swing state.
"John McCain's answers for the economy — and we're in such desperate shape — is the ultimate bridge to nowhere," Biden said from a turf field outside the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
___
Palin expects Biden to be a 'great debater'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she expects a challenging debate next month when she faces a Democratic opponent who was elected to the Senate when she was 8.
"Sen. (Joe) Biden has tremendous amount of experience," Palin said in an interview scheduled to air Thursday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes." "I think he was first elected when I was like in second grade. He's been in there a long, long, long time."
Lowering expectations is typically part of the political gamesmanship before a debate. Biden has said he has debated "an awful lot of tough, smart women" and Palin will be no exception.
___
Michelle Obama: Don't vote because 'she's cute'
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michelle Obama asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because, "I like that guy" or, "she's cute."
Might she be talking about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?
"I'm talking about me," she said with a smile.
Barack Obama's wife, however, is not a candidate in the presidential election. Palin is.
Michelle Obama is part of a concerted effort involving her husband, his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to neutralize the appeal Palin has brought to John McCain's ticket for some female voters.
___
DAILY TRACK
Democrat Barack Obama has a slight edge over Republican John McCain — Obama has 48 percent to McCain's 44 percent — among registered voters in the presidential race, according to the latest Gallup Poll daily tracking update.
___
THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama held a rally in Espanola, N.M.
Joe Biden campaigned in Ohio.
___
THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain and Sarah Palin spoke to voters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before heading to Green Bay, Wis., for a rally.
___
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"We need you. Our families need you. Our country needs you." — Michelle Obama, to women in Charlotte, N.C.
___
STAT OF THE DAY:
Since their party conventions, the two presidential campaigns have shown ads nearly 70,000 times in battleground states and on national cable and national network television at a total cost of more than $15 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks ads.
___
Compiled by Ann Sanner.