Obama, McCain clash on economy in final presidential debate
16/10/2008 16:14
The war of words was intensified as US presidential candidates John McCain
and Barack Obama argued about who has a better economic plan in their final
debate last night at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
McCain asked his
Democratic opponent Obama to clarify his relationship with Bill Ayers, a former
1960s radical who belonged to the Weather Underground.
"Mr. Ayers is not
involved in this campaign, he has never been involved in my campaign, and he
will not advise me in the White House," Obama said.
McCain's campaign has
charged that Obama's association with Ayers should cause voters to question his
judgment. Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground, a
group that was involved in bombings in the early 1970s, including attacks on the
Pentagon and the Capitol.
McCain and Obama went back-and-forth yesterday over
the negative rhetoric that has dominated the campaign trail in recent
days.
McCain accused Obama of spending "more money on negative ads than any
campaign in history." Obama hit back, saying that McCain's campaign had been
running exclusively negative ads, and that the public found McCain to be running
a more negative campaign than Obama.
Earlier, McCain shot back as Obama tried
to liken him to the current president, telling his rival "I am not President
Bush."
"If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four
years ago. I'm going to give a new direction to this economy and this country,"
the Arizona senator said at the start of the third presidential
debate.
McCain's remarks came after Obama charged that McCain is pursuing the
same kind of policies as Bush.
Obama promised he would "go through the
federal budget page by page, line by line, and cut programs that don't work" as
president, echoing a vow his rival has made repeatedly.
McCain in turn
promised an "across the board spending freeze," saying that he would balance the
federal budget in four years and go on to name specific programs including
subsidies for ethanol when moderator Bob Schieffer pressed both candidates to
identify specific budget cuts they would make.
The candidates also butted
heads over tax policy at the start of the debate. Obama said that "nobody likes
taxes ... but we've got to pay for the core investments that make this economy
strong."
McCain accused Obama of being a "class warrior" and asked why Obama
would raise taxes on anybody during an economic crisis. Obama countered that
both he and McCain want to cut taxes, but that his plan would cut taxes for "95
percent of American families," more than McCain's plan.
McCain insisted the
government needed to help keep people in their homes, "putting a floor" under
falling home ownership in the face of the mortgage crisis.
Obama charged that
McCain's plan could end up being a giveaway to "the banks" rather than to
homeowners.
The debate, comes as Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, continues
to make gains in the polls. Obama currently leads McCain, a Republican from
Arizona, by 8 percentage points, according to CNN's average of national
surveys.
Obama yesterday also made some gains in key battleground states,
according to CNN's Electoral Map. It's the pair's final face-off before the Nov.
4 Election.
Xinhua
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