Economy takes center stage ahead of foreign policy debate

— -- Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are trying to influence the course of the Bush administration's Wall Street bailout plan as they prepare for their first debate this week.

The two presidential candidates meet Friday night at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. While the scheduled topic is foreign affairs, the nation's financial mess may also surface.

"The Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan," Obama said Sunday in North Carolina. He called the initial outlay of $700 billion "sobering."

In Maryland, McCain said Sunday that any plan "must keep people in their homes and safeguard the life savings of all Americans by protecting our financial system and capital markets." On Saturday, he said he looked forward to "reviewing the full administration proposal."

Obama, in his Charlotte, appearance and in a separate "statement of principles," laid out a series of conditions Sunday that he says the plan must meet.

The first four: no blank check "when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money," not a dime to reward Wall Street CEOs, taxpayers should be able recoup their investment and homeowners must be helped.

Additionally, Obama said other nations must help secure financial markets, new 21st century "rules of the road" must be put in place for financial institutions, and Congress should pass a stimulus plan to save jobs and help states avoid fiscal pain.

McCain spoke mainly about Iraq and veterans' health care during a speech Sunday to the National Guard Association in Baltimore. But he also mentioned he has a plan for "comprehensive reform of the broken institutions that allowed this crisis to become a grave threat to our economy."

Last week, McCain made some of his own proposals, including creation of a Mortgage and Financial Institutions Trust, designed "to identify institutions that are weak and take remedies to strengthen them before they become insolvent."

Congress is expected to vote on the administration bailout plan this week. Neither campaign would say if the candidates would interrupt their week to fly to Washington and vote, or how they might vote on a final plan.