Today on the presidential campaign trail

IN THE HEADLINES

Obama calls for temporary moratorium on foreclosures, two-year tax break for small businesses ... McCain unveils new stump speech, criticizes Bush economics ... Clinton's answer to GOP chant with 'jobs, baby, jobs' ... Palin mistakes fans for protesters at Va. rally ... Biden says McCain lurches from one bad idea to another and attacks Obama to distract voters

(enlarge photo) Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at the Seagate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Obama offers new proposals to help economy

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama proposed more immediate steps Monday to heal the nation's ailing economy, including a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures at some banks and a two-year tax break for businesses that create new jobs.

With the economic turmoil weighing down his Republican presidential rival, Obama also proposed allowing people to withdraw up to $10,000 from their retirement accounts without any penalty this year and next.

Obama said his proposals, with a price tag of $60 billion over two years, can be enacted quickly, either through the government's regulatory powers or legislation that Congress could pass in a special session after the election.

"I'm proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities and help struggling homeowners," Obama told a crowd of 3,000. "It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's spelled J-O-B-S."

Obama delivered his economic message in Toledo, a struggling blue-collar city in a state that could be critical to Obama's presidential hopes. Polls show a close race between Obama and Republican John McCain in Ohio, which decided the 2004 presidential election. At stake are 20 electoral votes.

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McCain offers tougher criticism of Bush economics

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Republican John McCain delivered his toughest criticism so far of President Bush's economic policies as he unveiled a new campaign stump speech that promised an energetic fight to reverse his slide in the polls.

"We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change," McCain said while campaigning with running mate Sarah Palin in this once reliably Republican state that has become a battleground this year.

The Arizona senator insisted he understood Americans' concerns about the deepening financial crisis, even as fears about the meltdown have moved voters firmly in Democrat Barack Obama's direction in recent weeks.

The repudiation of the Republican incumbent's economic policies came as McCain has struggled to find a message that would reverse his sagging poll results nationally and in some battleground states.

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Clinton's rejoinder: Jobs, baby, jobs

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a Democratic rejoinder to the Republican chant of "drill, baby, drill." Said the one-time presidential candidate: "Jobs, baby, jobs."

Campaigning for her once bitter rival Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, the New York senator spoke to about 1,500 people at a historic farm in suburban Horsham.

Clinton is trying to use her popularity in places like northeast Philadelphia and the city's suburbs to help Obama beat Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain in this battleground state. She did well in both areas in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary six months ago, when she beat the Illinois senator by 10 percentage points.

At the Republican National Convention and various GOP rallies, an oft-repeated chant was "drill, baby, drill," a plea for more oil drilling. McCain and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin back more offshore oil drilling; Palin favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Clinton said Democrats have a better answer: "Jobs, baby, jobs."

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Palin mistakes fans for protesters at Va. rally

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin mistook some of her own fans for hecklers Monday at a rally that drew thousands.

A massive crowd of at least 20,000 spread across the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway, and scores of people on the outer periphery more than 100 yards from the stage could not hear.

"Louder! Louder!" they began chanting, and the cry spread across the crowd to Palin's left. Some pointed skyward, urging that the volume be increased.

Palin stopped her remarks briefly and looked toward the commotion.

"I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest," she said.

Some in the crowd tried to shout toward her what was really being said, but she couldn't hear them.

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Biden: McCain attacks attempt to distract voters

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden said Monday that Republican John McCain is falsely attacking Barack Obama to distract voters from the economy while lurching from one bad idea to another.

"Every single false charge, every single baseless accusation is a simple attempt to get you to focus on something other than what's affecting your families and your country," Biden told about 500 people at an American Legion hall.

"I've known John McCain for a long, long time," Biden added. "It's disappointing that his campaign, as a recent analysis has shown, literally 100 percent of the McCain campaign's advertisements are negative."

"I guess when you vote with the president 100 percent of the time, you can only attack 100 percent of the time," he said.

A study of all presidential ads in the largest 186 TV markets by the University of Wisconsin's advertising project found that nearly every McCain ad from Sept. 28-Oct. 4 was negative, compared to 34 percent of Obama's. Congressional Quarterly found that McCain supported President Bush in Senate votes 90 percent of the time during Bush's eight years in office, though the figure rose to 95 percent in the most recent year.

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DAILY TRACK

Democrat Barack Obama has a 10-percentage-point lead over Republican John McCain — 51 percent to 41 percent — among registered voters, according to the latest Gallup Poll daily tracking update.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama campaigned in Toledo, Ohio, where he presented his economic rescue proposal.

Joe Biden campaigned in the New Hampshire cities of Rochester and Manchester, before stopping at a dinner in Dover, Del.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain and Sarah Palin held a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. McCain also campaigned in Wilmington, N.C., while Palin talked to voters in Richmond, Va.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"She's my future mother-in-law. She better win." — Levi Johnston, who's having a baby with the daughter of Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

In early September, Republican John McCain had a 26-point advantage among white voters without a college degree who were likely to vote, according to AP-GfK polling. But by late September, the advantage had dropped to 7 points, with McCain leading 46 percent to 39 percent among this group.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

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