Obama ups criticism of McCain, Wall Street

GREENSBORO, N. C. -- One day after a debate in which some of his supporters here thought he was too polite, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on Saturday came out swinging against Wall Street and his Republican rival, John McCain.

Appearing with his running mate, Joe Biden, in front of a flag-decked train station, Obama tried to turn McCain's aggressive style to his own advantage, portraying his opponent as more interested in scoring points than in presenting a program.

"John McCain had a lot to say about me, but nothing to say about you," Obama told a crowd of 20,000 who waited for the Democratic candidates under drizzly skies.

In a response emailed to reporters, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama's economic plan would amount to " $860 billion in lavish new government spending which is a crushing burden on middle class families and the Main Street economy."

McCain, who earlier this week rushed to Washington to help broker a deal on stabilizing U.S. financial markets, stayed away from Capitol Hill on Saturday as negotiators inched toward an agreement.

Senior adviser Mark Salter said the Arizona senator spent the morning at his campaign headquarters placing calls to congressional leaders and White House officials involved in finalizing a multibillion-dollar deal to bail out failing financial firms. Earlier in the week McCain suspended most campaign activities to help develop a bipartisan agreement.

Obama, meanwhile, stuck to his campaign schedule which will take him and Biden from here to two other swing states this weekend: Virginia and Michigan.

"He can effectively do what he needs to do by phone," Salter said Saturday. "He's calling members on both sides, talking to people in the administration, helping out as he can."

Though he has dismissed the presidential candidates' intervention in the bailout talks as counterproductive grandstanding, Obama expressed forceful opinions about what the deal should — and should not — include.

"I will not allow this plan to become a welfare program for Wall Street executives," he told the crowd here. And he suggested an additional $50 billion in aid for the unemployed and investments in infrastructure should be part of the deal.

"Washington has to feel the same sense of urgency about passing an economic stimulus plan" as it does about rescuing mega-investors, said Obama, who spoke by phone Saturday about the state of the negotiations with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Obama accused McCain of backing the Republican free-market philosophy that allowed mortage and investment companies to run amok. "He's been against the common sense rules and regulations that could have stopped this mess," Obama said. Although Obama too has received support from the key executives of the troubled mortage firms, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he sharpened his attacks on McCain for having a number of heavy-hitting Washington lobbyists on his campaign staff.

"If you think those lobbyists are working day and night to elect my opponent just to put themselves out of business, well, I've got a bridge I want to sell you in Alaska," said Obama, drawing an appreciative laugh from the crowd with his reference to a controversy over an ill-fated federal project that has embarrassed McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Obama also accused McCain of stealing the "change" theme of his campaigns. "He's been grabbing our signs, using our slogans. C'mon John," Obama chuckled. "Pretty soon I'm going to have to start saying I'm a maverick. You gotta come up with your own stuff."

The Democrat's feisty performance delighted supporters who thought their candidate was bullied by McCain in the debate. "He started every sentence with an attack on Obama," said Sandie Dennis of Madison, N.C. Jane Gutsell of Greensboro said she has mixed feelings about whether Obama needs to be more aggressive in later debates.

"Fundamentally, he's such a gentleman," Gutsell said. "I think it's hard for him to go against his nature. I like him for that."

Obama's advisers insisted their candidate did what he needed to do. Campaign manager David Plouffe cited a CBS overnight poll showing Obama bettering his earlier score by 16 points when voters were asked if he's prepared to assume the presidency. "We did ourselves a lot of good last night," Plouffe told reporters on a conference call.

That's especially significant since much of the Friday debate focused on foreign policy, an area where McCain's military service and 26 years in the Senate has given him a wealth of experience, Obama's running mate told the audience here.

"This was supposed to be John McCain's turf and Barack Obama owned it," said Biden.

The celebratory mood infected even Obama's traveling staffers. While Obama and Biden were closeted doing television interviews here, Eric Lesser and Herbie Ziskend, the baggage handlers for the two candidates' traveling entourage held a mock debate over their respective abilities to deliver luggage to hotel rooms on time. The two used recycling bins for lecterns, giving a whole new meaning to the term "talking trash."

As bemused Secret Service agents stood by and a crowd of assembled reporters heckled encouragingly, the two "bag men" demonstrated they've been studying their bosses' lines well.

"At the end of the day, this is a question of judgment and experience but it's also about change," Lesser declared.