Candidates dig up dirt, use it to throw mud

McClatchy Newspapers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Who does America want at the helm in a time of crisis, an erratic gambler or a dangerous radical?

That’s the stark choice being portrayed by John McCain and Barack Obama as they prepare for their second debate tonight — each is looking to frame the other in the darkest possible terms heading into the final month of the campaign.

Obama, having opened a lead and looking to seal the deal, heads into the debate portraying himself as the steady hand of calm leadership and slamming McCain as a knee-jerk hothead ill-suited to handle the nation’s crises, economic or otherwise.

McCain, looking to stop Obama’s momentum, is hammering his rival’s ties to controversial characters in Chicago as signs of his radical and unpredictable ways.

As both take aim, their shots are underscored by the continuing turmoil in the markets and fresh warnings Monday that the economy is in for tough times ahead despite Friday’s approval of a $700 billion bank bailout.

Indeed, the economy is likely to dominate the questions posed to the two men Tuesday night. The 90-minute debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., will feature questions from a live audience in a town hall format moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw. It will be televised nationally starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

“In difficult times, people want a sense of calm reassurance,” said Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University in Iowa. “Obama, as he did in the first debate, is going to try to come across as calm and reassuring. He’s going to hit the economy hard ... .”

In the days and hours leading up to the debate, Obama was striving to portray McCain as a reckless leader who would make impulsive, poorly reasoned moves with the country’s future.

“Erratic in a crisis,” a new Obama ad says of McCain. “Out of touch.”

“Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you,” Obama said on Sunday, using the word “gambling” as a red flag to draw some connection between McCain’s fondness for casino betting and his alleged style of leadership.

Obama’s campaign also launched a new attack Monday on Mc- Cain’s role in the Keating Five savings-and-loan scandal, named for the head of a failed S&L and the five lawmakers accused of improperly helping him.

A Senate Ethics Committee inquiry ultimately cleared Mc- Cain while rebuking him for “poor judgment.”

McCain goes into the debate trailing in national polls and in surveys of many battleground states.