Post- debate rhetoric heats up

The Obama campaign roundly criticized McCain’s new mortgage proposal.

Los Angeles Times

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Republican Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign Wednesday disavowed an introduction here that included Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein.

William Platt, chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Party, twice referred to “Barack Hussein Obama,” which other supporters of McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have used to link the Democratic candidate with Muslims. Obama is not a Muslim.

McCain has disavowed the tactic, most recently when it was employed earlier this week.

“We do not condone this inappropriate rhetoric which distracts from the real questions of judgment, character and experience that voters will base their decisions on this November,” campaign spokesman Paul Lindsay said in a prepared statement.

The statement came as McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, campaigned here the day after the second presidential debate. Earlier, Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, campaigned in Tampa, Fla., where he chastised Palin and McCain for recent attacks on Obama in which they contend he has ties to a former founder of a violent anti-Vietnam War group.

Obama campaigned Wednesday on economic issues at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, his sixth visit to Indiana since clinching the nomination. Indiana is a state that Democrats are hoping to wrest from the Republican column.

Palin and McCain on Wednesday also concentrated on economic issues, particularly McCain’s plan to have the government buy up bad mortgages, renegotiate them to reflect the decreased value of the property and then issue new fixed-rate mortgages at a lower interest. The goal is to give stressed homeowners some relief while helping to stabilize credit markets.

“Last night I set forth a critical first step our country must take to get through this time of crisis. We must go to the heart of the problem, and you know that problem is a housing crisis in Pennsylvania and the country,” McCain told the crowd of more than 6,600.

“The dream of owning a home should not be crushed under the weight of a bad mortgage. The moment requires that government act — and as president I intend to act, quickly and decisively, so you can realize the American Dream,” he said.

In a statement Wednesday, the Obama campaign criticized the McCain plan but repeated its call to help homeowners.

“Now that he’s finally released the details of his plan, it turns out it’s even more costly and out-of-touch than we ever imagined,” the campaign statement said.

“John McCain wants the government to massively overpay for mortgages in a plan that would guarantee taxpayers lose money, and put them at risk of losing even more if home values don’t recover. The biggest beneficiaries of this plan will be the same financial institutions that got us into this mess, some of whom even committed fraud.”

National polls have repeatedly have shown that Americans view the economic crisis as the principal problem and that voters see Obama as the person they trust to deal with the issue. That support has helped Obama widen his lead in the polls.