Candidates propose help for Ohio auto industry

Candidates propose help for Ohio auto industry

COLUMBUS — The presidential candidates are making big promises to boost the slumping auto industry. And, Ohio is all ears, after huge GM and Ford layoffs.

John McCain is pitching a $5,000 tax credit for people who buy a zero-carbon emissions car. Barack Obama pledges 150 billion dollars in clean-energy research to help create fuel-efficient cars.

Whether the candidates’ proposals by themselves can help automakers and their workers is up for debate. Youngstown State University labor studies professor John Russo says neither man has adequately addressed the trade issues underlying the U.S. auto industry’s problems.

Ohio now has about 25,000 autoworkers, down from 38,000 in 2001.

McCain to Obama: Don’t play politics with race

WASHINGTON — John McCain accused Barack Obama of playing politics with race Thursday, raising the explosive issue after the first black candidate with a serious chance of winning the White House claimed Republicans will try to scare voters by saying he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

Until now, the subject of race has been almost taboo in the campaign, at least in public, with both sides fearing its destructive force.

“I’m disappointed that Sen. Obama would say the things he’s saying,” McCain told reporters in Racine, Wis. The Arizona senator said he agreed with campaign manager Rick Davis’ earlier statement that “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”

Obama likened to Hilton, Spears in new McCain ad

RACINE, Wis. — Republican John McCain expressed pride Thursday in a new campaign ad that compares Barack Obama to a pair of Hollywood celebrities, but defended his Democratic opponent after a voter said Obama “terrifies me.”

The ad intersperses images of Obama’s appearance before cheering fans in Berlin last week with clips of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. It underscores McCain’s oft-stated criticism that Obama is more a media phenomenon than someone prepared to assume the presidency, but also led some Republican supporters of McCain to complain the ad was childish.

“What we are talking about here is substance and not style,” McCain said, making his first comments about the ad after a voter questioned him about it. “Campaigns are tough, but I’m proud of the campaign we have run, I’m proud of the issues we have tried to address with the American people. ... All I can say is we are proud of that commercial.”

GOP energy plan rapped

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Democrat Barack Obama seized on a record oil company profit to argue that rival John McCain offers only tax breaks for Big Oil and “short-term gimmicks” to consumers struggling with soaring gasoline prices.

The Illinois senator incorporated news of Exxon Mobil’s nearly $12 billion quarterly profit into his remarks at a town hall meeting here.

“While Big Oil is making record profits, you are paying record prices at the pump and our economy is leaving working people behind,” Obama said.

Gen. Clark for veep?

WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is getting an online push for presidential running mate.

A new Web site, www.obamaclark.com, offers readers a chance to sign a petition supporting Clark’s placement on the ticket with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Clark, a Vietnam veteran and former supreme commander of NATO under President Clinton, had been serving as a national security surrogate for Obama until he belittled McCain’s qualifications to be president during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” last month.

Poll finds candidates tied

Democrat Barack Obama is statistically tied nationally with Republican John McCain — 45 percent for Obama and 44 percent for McCain — among registered voters in the presidential race, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.

Associated Press