Barack Obama lands in London for G20

President Barack Obama landed in London this morning on his way to the G-20 meeting of the world's major economic powers. Obama will also be attending a NATO summit to commemorate 60 years of existence. He will be visiting five countries over the eight day European trip.

The main event in London is Thursday's summit on the global financial crisis among the Group of 20 wealthy and developing nations. Together, they represent 85% of the world's economy. Obama will meet with leaders from countries such as India, Russia, China and South Korea while in London.

Barack Obama Lovefest Losing Steam in Europe?

Europe anticipated his arrival as US President with open arms and enthusiasm after years of dealing with difficult Bush American political policy. Is the Barack Obama love affair losing steam so quickly in the new US President's tenure? The troubling world economy is definitely stifling the Obama momentum. Many Europeans are feeling a bit overlooked and ignored by Barack Obama. He has yet to visit Europe and sent his Secretary of State to Asia and the Middle East before Europe.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is heading to Europe for a basic meet-and-greet trip. Hillary Clinton will also set the stage for Obama's visit to Europe next month. The Obama trip will include a summit with the 27 EU leaders in Prague, as well as a London summit of the G20, and NATO's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg.

Hopefully a little attention from the new US President will reassure the Europeans of Barack Obama's plans and intentions moving forward as President.

Same Pork as Usual in Latest Stimulus Package

So where will this newest stimulus package get us? The democrats pushed it through the House of Representatives yesterday. President Barack Obama campaigned on change, but this new stimulus plan is full of the same old pork that we have seen for decades in American politics. President Obama has promoted the 3-T strategy for the stimulus package and recovery....temporary, targeted and timely.

First off the tax cuts & credits in the plan will mean $12/week per paycheck for the average American. It's nice, but won't make any difference at all for me. It won't change my spending habits. It won't make me go buy anything other than what I would be normally buying anyway. It will just go into my bank account as with most Americans. Very little stimulus there as most won't notice any difference at all.

Now to the pork in the bill. $70 million for stop smoking programs. Not going to create any jobs there. $335 million for sexually transmitted diseases = no job creation. $650 million for DTV coupons. $50 million for national endowment for the arts. Now I am all for museums and such, but come on. $75 million super computer for national oceanic and atmospheric association. Typical political pork. Nothing of the above helps our struggling economy or creates any jobs whatsoever.

Now to the building and infrastructure parts of the package. I think timely was one of the 3-Ts. According to the Washington Post, of the $30 billion devoted to highway spending, only $4 billion will be spent within the next 2 years. Less than $3 billion of the $18.5 billion for renewable energy and less than half the financing for school construction will be spent by 2011. How is this timely? We need this stuff now not in 2013!

Unfortunately, it looks like politics as usual in Washington. I love President Obama's energy and enthusiasm, but if we can't eliminate special interests and pork from Congress it is all for naught and this country will continue to have it's tax dollars wasted.

President Obama Pushing New Stimulus Package

President Barack Obama took to the airwaves Saturday to promote his economic aid plan which he is hoping to get through Congress soon. Obama's recovery package goals are:

--- Double within three years the amount of energy that could be produced from renewable resources . That is an ambitious goal, given the 30 years it took to reach current levels. Advisers say that could power 6 million households.

---upgrade 10,000 schools and improve learning for about 5 million students.

---save $2 billion a year by making federal buildings energy efficient.

---triple the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science.

---tighten security at almost 90 major US ports.

The plan would look to spend at least 75% of the total cost (more than $600 billion) within the first 18 months, either through work projects favored by Democrats or tax cuts favored by Republicans.

There is heavy emphasis on public works projects, which have lagged as state budgets contracted. Governors have lobbied Obama to help them patch holes in their budgets, drained by sinking tax revenues and increased need for public assistance such as Medicaid and children's health insurance. Obama's plan would increase the federal portion of those programs so no state would have to cut any of the 20 million children whose eligibility is now at risk. Obama's plan would also provide health care coverage for 8.5 million people who lose their insurance when they either lose or shift jobs.

Tax Cuts Coming in the New Stimulus Plan from Barack Obama

The upcoming economic stimulus package to be proposed by President-elect Barack Obama could include very large tax breaks for individuals and businesses, according to Democratic aides. The tax cuts could make up as much as 40% of the stimulus package. The package may be worth as much as $775 billion meaning tax cuts may constitute more than $300 billion of the legislation.

Making tax cuts such a large part of the stimulus may help win support from Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said his party would support a middle class tax cut as part of any stimulus package.

The plan would attempt to boost consumer demand by spending $140 billion on tax breaks worth $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples. The change would come by altering tax-withholding rules, rather than through a rebate check as with the previous stimulus plan enacted last year, so that workers would see an immediate increase in their take-home pay.

The $500 tax credit would apply to the first $8,100 of wages, meaning a worker who earns $24,400 a year and is paid twice a month would get about $60 extra per paycheck for four months.

Thoughts from Around the World on the Barack Obama Election

I thought it would be interesting to grab some quotes and headlines from around the world on the election of Barack Obama.

Nelson Mandela of South Africa:
"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.

Nicolas Sarkozy of France:
"At a time when we have to confront immense challenges together, your election raises great hopes in France, Europe and in the rest of the world.

The Times of London - The New World
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany) - Barack Obama: In America Everything is Possible
The Sun (Britain) - One Giant Leap for Mankind
O Globo (Brazil) - Change Has Come
II Giornale (Italy) - The World has a new Emperor
Pravda (Russia) - A Change for the Better

Obama Wins Historic Election in a Rout

Barack Obama rode a wave of voter discontent to a historic Election victory, promising change as the first African-Amercian US president but facing enormous challenges from a deep economic crisis and lingering wars overseas. Obama led Democrats to sweeping victories around the country that expanded majorities in both houses of Congress as Americans emphatically rejected President George W. Bush's leadership.

Newspaper headlines captured the momentous nature of the result. A New York Times banner headline said simply "OBAMA", while the Washington Post declared "Obama Makes History" and USA Today: "America makes history; Obama wins". The son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, Obama was born at a time when black Americans were still battling segregationist policies in the South. His triumph over Republican rival John McCain on Tuesday is a milestone that could help the United States bury its long and often brutal history of racism.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama, 47, told more than 200,000 ecstatic supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate.

Raucous street celebrations erupted across the country, but Obama will have little or no time off to enjoy the victory. He was expected to start work on Wednesday on planning a course for his formal takeover on January 20 and putting together a team to tackle the huge challenges at home and abroad. Initial market reaction was muted. Analysts said Obama's victory had been largely priced in and concerns about the global economy were paramount.

The dollar rose against major currencies following its biggest one day slide in 13 years, but US stock index futures were down by between 1.3% and 1.6%. Obama won at least 349 Electoral College votes, based on results in state votes, far more than the 270 he needed. With results in from more than three quarters of US precincts, he led McCain by 52% to 47% in the popular vote.

He will face intense pressure to deliver on his campaign promises. He has vowed to restore American leadership in the world by working closely with foreign allies, to withdraw troops from Iraq in the first 16 months of his term and to bolster US troop levels in Afghanistan. But his immediate task will be tackling the financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. Obama has proposed another stimulus package that could cost about $175 billion and include funding for infrastructure and another round of rebate checks.

A first-term Illinois senator who will now be the 44th US President, Obama said he would work to ease the country's sharp political divisions and listen to those who voted against him.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," he said in Chicago.

McCain's hopes for a surprise win evaporated with losses in a string of key battleground states led by the big prizes of Ohio and Florida, the states that sent Democrats to defeat in the last two elections. McCain, a 72 yr old Arizona senator and former Vietnam War prisoner, called Obama to congratulate him and praised his inspirational and precedent-shattering campaign.

"I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill," McCain said.

Election Winner Could be Known Early Tomorrow

Some of the earliest returns in tomorrow's US Presidential Election could give us major knowledge about the final outcome. The race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain could become clear soon after the first polls begin to close at 6 pm in Indiana. Obama and McCain are locked in a surprisingly tight duel in Indiana, a Midwestern state that has voted Republican in every White House race since 1964. A breakthrough win for Obama, or even a neck and neck struggle, would be an encouraging sign of broad strength for the senator from neighboring Illinois.

But if McCain appears to be cruising to a relatively easy win in Indiana it could signal trouble for Obama, who is challenging McCain in about a dozen states won in 2004 by Republican President George W. Bush. The first public sign of Democrat John Kerry's loss in 2004 came from a worse than expected monster blowout in Indiana.

"If Obama wins Indiana, the election is over," Democratic consultant Doug Schoen said. "Even if it's close, within 2 or 3 points, it probably suggests a big Obama win nationally. If it's more than 4 points for McCain, it's going to be wait and see for a while."

The next round of tests is at 7 pm when voting ends in Georgia, parts of Florida and the battleground state of Virginia, another place where Democrats have not won a presidential vote since 1964 but have made gains in recent statewide races.

"If Obama wins Virginia by a decisive margin, it's a pretty strong suggestion he's going to win the election," Schoen said. "If McCain wins by more than a few points that could suggest movement toward him."

At 7:30pm, polls close in the states of Ohio and North Carolina and by 8pm , all polls in Florida will be closed. Florida's 27 electoral votes and Ohio's 20 electoral votes are two of the biggest prizes still up for grabs on Tuesday.

John McCain faces a perilous path to gaining the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. Essentially McCain has to carry all of those early battleground states to have a realistic chance. A loss in any would increase pressure on McCain to make up for the loss with an upset of Obama in Pennsylvania, which Democrats have taken in the past four presidential elections. Voting in Pennsylvania, which has 21 electoral votes, also ends at 8pm.

Democrats Looking to Claim the Victory

With Election Day almost upon us, Democrat Barack Obama appears within reach of becoming the nation's first black president as the epic campaign draws to a close against a backdrop of economic crisis and lingering war. Republican John McCain, the battle-scarred warrior, holds out hope for a Truman style upset.

Whoever wins, the country's 44th president will immediately confront some of the most difficult economic challenges since the Great Depression. In that effort, he'll almost surely be working with a stronger Democratic majority in Congress, as well as among governors and state legislatures nationwide. GOP incumbents at every level are endangered just eight years after President Bush's election ignited talk of lasting Republican Party dominance.

It's been an extraordinary campaign of shattered records, ceilings and assumptions. Indeed, a race for the ages. Democrat Obama has exuded confidence in the campaign's final days, reaching for a triumph of landslide proportions. "The die is being cast as we speak," says campaign manager David Plouffe.

Undeterred, Republican McCain vows to fight on, bidding for an upset reminiscent of Democrat Harry S. Truman's stunning defeat of Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. Looking back only to early this year, campaign manager Rick Davis says, "We are witnessing perhaps, I believe, one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary."

The odds for Republicans in 2008 have been long from the start: Voters often thwart the party that's been in power for two terms. And this year, larger factors are working against the GOP: the war in Iraq, now in its sixth year, and the crisis on Wall Street and in the larger economy. Voters deeply distrust government and crave a new direction.

Republicans are girding for widespread losses. "It's a fairly toxic atmosphere out there," said Nevada Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the Senate GOP's campaign effort. Added his House counterpart, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole: "We haven't caught very many breaks."

Democrats are looking ahead to expanded power. "Things are looking very good," said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the head of the House Democrats' campaign committee. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democrats' effort, predicted: "We're going to pick up a large number of seats and that's going to make Democrats very happy."

The Democrats are looking to claim a 60 vote Senate majority that would allow the party to overcome Republican filibusters, and could pick up two dozen or more House seats. Democrats also hope to pad their slim majority of governorships and increase their ranks in what already is their strongest majority in state legislatures in more than a decade.

The implications are far-reaching: Governors and state legislators elected Tuesday to four year terms will help preside over the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts following the 2010 Census. The party in charge can redraw districts in its favor. Atop the ticket, Obama leads in national and key battleground state polling, though the race appears to be tightening as it plays out primarily in states that Bush won twice. Among the unknowns: the choices of one in seven likely voters who are undecided or could still change their minds; the impact of Obama's efforts to register and woo new voters, particularly blacks and young people; the effect of Obama's race on voters just four decades after the tumult of the Civil Rights movement.

"Right now, it's very clearly Obama's to lose, and I think his chances of doing so are pretty minimal," said Republican Dick Armey, the former House majority leader from Texas. He said the possibility of a McCain comeback is "getting down to slim-to-none."

An Obama victory would amount to a wholesale rejection of the status quo: voters taking a chance on a relative newcomer to the national stage, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Chicago, rather than stick with a seasoned veteran of the party in power. With strengthened Democratic majorities in Congress, he'd have to deal with the party's left flank while governing a country that's more conservative than liberal.

The Republican Party essentially would be in tatters, searching for both a leader and an identity. An Obama loss, or McCain comeback, would be a crushing disappointment for Democrats in a year tailor-made for the party. It would suggest McCain's experience trumped Obama's clarion call for change, and raise troubling questions about white Americans' willingness to vote for a black man. Blacks, in particular, might be furious and deeply suspicious of an almost sure thing that slipped away.

Barack Obama Ready for TV Barrage

Barack Obama is prepared to launch an unprecedented television blitz on Wednesday to push his economic message on US networks ranging from CBS and NBC to Comedy Central. Obama's television broadside may also force a 15 minute delay in the Fox network's broadcast of the fifth game of the World Series, the fiercely followed championship of Major League Baseball, coincidentally between teams from Pennsylvania and Florida, both major battlegrounds in the November 4 election.

His Republican rival John McCain plans to appear on CNN's "Larry King Live," hoping to convince viewers with his own vision of the country's future. Campaign officials said Obama would use the 30 minutes of primetime air time his campaign has purchased on several networks to focus on his message on the economy, which has taken center stage in his campaign.

"We want to make sure every voter heading into the voting booth knows exactly what Barack Obama would do to bring about fundamental change as president," campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

A campaign official said the ad would include a video montage, footage of ordinary Americans telling their stories and some live portions of Obama, who is scheduled to be at a rally in Florida that evening. Obama, already blanketing the airwaves with political advertisements in many battleground states, has purchased the 1/2-hour slot on CBS, NBC and Fox.

The ad, which airs at 8 pm EDT, coincides with the anniversary of the October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday" stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression.

The cost has been estimated at close to $1 million for each major network slot and reflects the huge cash advantage Obama has over McCain.

Barack Obama Opening Up a Lead in Polls

Democrat Barack Obama continued to expand his lead this week as he now holds a 9 point lead over Republican John McCain according to an ABC News/Washington Post daily tracking poll. This comes with less than two weeks before the US Presidential Election on November 4th.

The poll of 1,321 likely voters found 53% favored Obama, compared with 44% for McCain. The poll, conducted Monday to Thursday, had a margin of error of 2.5percentage points. Obama's lead has ranged from 9 to 11 points in the tracking poll this week.

The findings were similar to a number of other polls. A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released earlier on Friday showed Obama had a 10 point lead over McCain. The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found a decline in the popularity of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was now rated unfavorably by 51% of respondents.

Among respondents, 46% had a favorable view of the Alaska governor, down from 59% after the Republican convention in early September. Six in 10 likely voters said Palin lacked the experience to be an effective president.

If We Are in a Recession Why are the Candidates Wasting Money Like This?

I don't think anyone will debate the fact that the United States, and the whole world basically, is mired in an economic downturn. Why then are our Presidential candidates wasting money like they are?

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been exposed recently for spending ridiculously on her wardrobe for the campaign trail. For someone who has presented herself as a maverick and a simple country girl/small town girl, these purchases are crazy. $75,000 spent a Neiman Marcus and $49,000 spent a Saks Fifth Avenue. Keep in mind that this was not her own money at work. It was campaign money.

Now Obama is making a trip to Hawaii to visit his grandmother. Of course I am sensitive to the fact that his grandmother is ill, but that doesnt give the right to spend campaign/taxpayer money to do it. Should he get a private 727 at our expense?

Just two more examples as to why our government is so far in debt.

AP Poll Shows Presidential Race Tightening

An AP poll seems to show the presidential race tightening since the final debate, with John McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000. The poll shows McCain and Barack Obama essentially running even among likely voters in the election homestretch.

Obama came in at 44% and McCain 43%. Both Republicans and Democrats privately have said in recent days that the race narrowed after the third debate as GOP-leaning voters drifted home to their party and McCain's "Joe the plumber" analogy struck a chord.

Three weeks ago, an AP-GfK survey found that Obama had surged to a seven-point lead over McCain, lifted by voters who thought the Democrat was better suited to lead the nation through its sudden economic crisis. The contest is still volatile, and the split among voters is apparent less than two weeks before Election Day.

"I trust McCain more, and I do feel that he has more experience in government than Obama. I don't think Obama has been around long enough," said Angela Decker, 44, of La Porte, Ind.

But Karen Judd, 58, of Middleton, Wis., said, "Obama certainly has sufficient qualifications." She said any positive feelings about McCain evaporated with "the outright lying" in TV ads and his choice of running mate Sarah Palin, who "doesn't have the correct skills."

The new AP-GfK head to head result is a departure from some, but not all, recent national polls. Obama and McCain were essentially tied among likely voters in the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll, conducted by Republican strategist Ed Goeas and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. In other surveys focusing on likely voters, a Washington Post-ABC News poll and a Wall Street Journal-NBC News survey have Obama up by 11 points, and a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center has him leading by 14.

Polls are snapshots of highly fluid campaigns. In this case, there is a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5% points; that means Obama could be ahead by as many as 8 points or down by as many as 6. There are many reasons why polls differ, including methods of estimating likely voters and the wording of questions.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

Republican Colin Powell, who was President Bush's first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president Sunday and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain's campaign. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said either candidate, both of them senators, is qualified to be commander in chief. But he said Obama is better suited to handle the nation's economic problems as well as help improve its standing in the world.

"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," said of his longtime friend, the Arizona senator.

But, he added: "I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."

Powell's endorsement has been much anticipated because he is a Republican with impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is weak. Powell is a Republican centrist who is popular among moderate voters.

At the same time, Powell is a black man and Obama would be the nation's first black president. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision. If it was, he said, he would have made the endorsement months ago.

Powell expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain's campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and McCain's and Palin's decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers. A co-founder of the Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for nonfatal bombings during the Vietnam War-era, Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. He and Obama also served together on civic boards in Chicago.

Final Presidential Debate Gets Personal

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain battled fiercely on Wednesday in their liveliest and most contentious debate, with McCain attacking Obama's tax plan, campaign tone and relationship with a 1960s radical. The presidential rivals complained about the negativity of each other's campaigns during a tense and frequently testy debate that featured repeated discussion of "Joe the plumber", a small business owner Obama met in Ohio. McCain called on Obama to explain his relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers, who served with Obama on a community board in Chicago. Obama said he was simply an acquaintance.

"Mr. Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been involved in this campaign. And he will not advise me in the White House," Obama said.

McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, entered the debate under intense pressure to give a strong performance that could turn around a presidential race moving decisively in Obama's favor after weeks of economic turmoil and plunging stock markets. Opinion polls three weeks before the November 4 election show more voters say they trust Obama's leadership on the economy, which has dominated the campaign trail discussion and dwarfed McCain's expertise in foreign and military policy.

McCain repeatedly criticized Obama throughout the debate, turning in a more aggressive performance than in the first two showdowns. McCain rebuked Obama for frequently claiming that he is too close to the policies of President George W. Bush.

"Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago," McCain said in their final debate, at Hofstra University in New York.

Obama, 47, said he sometimes had trouble spotting a difference between the two.

"If I occasionally have mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people, on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush," Obama said.

Both candidates admitted the campaign's tone was "tough" and accused the other of fomenting the negativity. McCain said Obama had spent more money on negative ads than any candidate in history, while Obama noted a recent study said 100 percent of McCain's ads had been negative.

"It's gotten pretty tough, and I regret some of the negative aspects of both campaigns. But the fact is that it has taken many turns which I think are unacceptable," McCain said.

He demanded Obama renounce the comments of Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a leader in the US civil rights movement, who recently linked McCain to 1960s segregationist leader George Wallace.

"That, to me, was so hurtful," McCain said.

Obama said Lewis's link between McCain and Wallace was inappropriate "and we immediately put out a statement saying that we don't think that comparison is appropriate."

Several recent opinion polls have shown McCain's attacks on Obama's character have largely backfired, increasing unfavorable opinions about McCain among voters looking for solutions on the economy. But the two candidates spent long stretches battling over the grievances about their campaigns and not discussing the economy. Obama complained about the focus.

"The American people have become so cynical about our politics, because all they see is a tit-for-tat and back and forth," Obama said.

The candidates fought over their tax plans and promised to help working Americans like "Joe the plumber," an Ohio plumber Obama met over the weekend. McCain criticized Obama's proposal to raise taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year, saying it would hurt small business owners like Joe the plumber.

"Why would you want to raise anybody's taxes right now?" McCain asked Obama. "We need to encourage businesses."

Obama said his plan would cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans and raise them on only a small slice of the most high-income Americans, while McCain would give tax breaks to oil and gas companies.

"We both want to cut taxes," Obama, an Illinois senator, said. "The difference is who we want to cut taxes for."

The debate focused on domestic policy and the economy. Obama and McCain were seated at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News instead of standing at podiums as in the first debate.

Final Presidential Debate on Tap for Tonight

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain square off in their final Presidential Debate tonite. John McCain is hoping a strong performance can begin to turn around a White House race that is slowly slipping away. Three weeks before the November 4 election, McCain is running out of chances to reverse his slide in national opinion polls and gain ground on a surging Obama.

The encounter at Hofstra University in New York, will be the third and final debate between the presidential contenders and their final opportunity to reach a television audience of 60 million or more.

"You can do yourself a lot of good when you have a debate with that many people watching," South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson said.

The debate comes as new opinion polls show Obama gaining strength nationally and in battleground states after weeks of economic turmoil and plunging stock markets, with more voters saying they trust Obama's leadership on the economy. A Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby poll gave Obama a 4-point edge over McCain, but other national polls showed a larger margin for the Illinois senator. A CBS News/New York Times poll that showed Obama leading by 14 percentage points was the fifth survey this week to register Obama's lead in double-digits.

The bad poll news heightened the debate stakes for McCain, who unveiled a package of measures on Tuesday to help investors, particularly older Americans, who have seen their retirement savings decimated by stock market losses. But McCain also said he was not finished talking about Obama's service on a community board in Chicago with former 1960s radical William Ayers. The Arizona senator said he was likely to talk about Ayers during the debate.

Ayers was not discussed in the last debate, although McCain had been talking about him on the campaign trail. After the last debate, Obama noted McCain's reluctance to discuss the issue with him directly.

"I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised that I didn't have the guts to do that," McCain said in an interview with KMOX radio in St. Louis, Missouri. "I think he's probably assured that it's going to come up this time."

Several recent polls have shown McCain's attacks on Obama's character largely backfired, increasing unfavorable opinions about McCain among voters looking for solutions on the economy.

"There is no question the negative campaigning just isn't working," pollster John Zogby said. "To make an impact in this debate, McCain needs to be proactive and be very specific about the way he would lead an economic recovery."

Both candidates spent time on Tuesday cramming for the showdown. Obama holed up at a secluded resort on Lake Erie in the battleground state of Ohio, while McCain rehearsed at a stage complex in New York's theater district. At a New York fundraiser with running mate Sarah Palin on Tuesday night, McCain quipped to cheering supporters: "I want to do about half as good as Sarah did against poor old Joe Biden."

Polls showed most voters thought Biden, a Delaware senator and the Democratic vice presidential nominee, outperformed the first-term Alaska governor in their lone debate. The presidential debate will focus on domestic policy and the economy. Obama and McCain will be seated at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News instead of standing at podiums as in the first debate.

That could provoke more direct exchanges than in the first two encounters, which did little to recast the presidential race. McCain needs a sharper performance to build momentum for the final 2 1/2 weeks on the campaign trail.

"He has time to come back in this race," Dawson said of McCain. "Every day is a lifetime in American politics. But he has to get started."

The Latest From the Obama and McCain Campaign Trail

(Reuters) - Trying to revive his campaign, Republican presidential nominee John McCain offered proposals on Tuesday to help investors rebound from the stock market crash while Democrat Barack Obama prepared for their final debate. "What we need to see now is swift and bold action to lead this country in a new direction," McCain told cheering supporters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

McCain has sought to regain his footing on economic issues for the past three weeks after drawing criticism for saying the US economy's fundamentals were strong despite brewing signs of crisis on Wall Street that ultimately gave way to the biggest stock market drop since the Great Depression. During that time Obama has prospered, moving from a tie with McCain in national polls to a lead. In bad news for the McCain campaign, a Quinnipiac/Wall Street Journal/Washingtonpost poll on Tuesday gave Obama sizable leads in four battleground states.

The Illinois senator, who has hammered economic issues in his own campaign speeches, was up 52% to 43% for McCain in Colorado, 54-38 in Michigan, 51-40 in Minnesota and 54-37 in Wisconsin. With three weeks to go until election day on November 4, the stakes were high for the third and final debate between Obama and McCain, to take place at 9pm EDT on Wednesday in Hempstead, New York.

McCain is offering a more positive message on the campaign trail a week after he went negative on Obama, criticizing the Democrat for his ties to 1960s radical William Ayers. Ayers may well come up at the third debate, however, McCain told the Mark Reardon Show of St. Louis radio station KMOX.

"I was astonished to hear him (Obama) say that he was surprised that I didn't have the guts to do that ... I think he's probably assured that it's going to come up this time," McCain said.

In the Philadelphia suburb of Blue Bell, McCain outlined an estimated $52.5 billion in new proposals called the Pension and Security Plan. Many of them are aimed at helping older Americans who have seen their retirement accounts devastated in the recent stock market gyrations. He proposed that seniors pay a maximum tax rate of 10 percent on money they withdraw from IRAs and 401k retirement savings plans in 2009 and 2010, instead of paying the current higher tax rate. It would cost $36 billion.

This is in addition to a plan he announced last week to give investors temporary relief from a rule forcing them to begin withdrawing from their 401k and IRA plans once they reach the age of 70 1/2. McCain also proposed relief for Americans who were counting on investment income to send their children to college or pay the mortgage.

Internal Revenue Service rules say Americans can only deduct $3,000 in stock losses in any given year. McCain would expand that deduction to $15,000 a year for the tax years 2008 and 2009. Saying he wanted to "revive the market by attracting new investment," McCain proposed a two-year cut in the capital gains tax on stock profits in half, from 15% now on stocks held a year or longer to 7.5%, a $10 billion proposal.

In a proposal aimed at helping Americans who have been laid off from their jobs, McCain said would suspend the tax on unemployment insurance benefits in 2008 and 2009. McCain repeated his support for a $300 billion plan for the government to buy troubled loans from homeowners who have seen values fall below their debt and restructure them into more affordable mortgages.

The Obama campaign dismissed McCain's plan. "John McCain's latest gambit is a day late and 101 million middle-class families short. McCain's plan would spend $300 billion to bail out the same irresponsible Wall Street banks that got us into this mess without doing anything to help jumpstart job growth for America's middle class," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

McCain, accused by the Obama campaign of helping deregulate the financial industry, called for more oversight of Wall Street to avoid a repeat of a lax environment that fostered the US housing crisis at the root of the financial meltdown.

"We will learn from this crisis to prevent the next one, with much stricter oversight," he said.

Obama Asking for 3 Month Hold on Foreclosures

Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama proposed immediate steps to heal the nation's ailing economy including a 90 day moratorium on home foreclosures at some banks and a two-year tax break for businesses that create new jobs. With the economic turmoil weighing down his Republican presidential rival, Obama also proposed allowing people to withdraw up to $10,000 from their retirement accounts without any penalty this year and next.

The Democratic presidential candidate said his proposals, with a price tag of $60 billion over two years, can be enacted quickly, either through the government's regulatory powers or legislation that Congress could pass in a special session after the election.

"I'm proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities and help struggling homeowners," Obama told a crowd of 3,000. "It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's spelled J-O-B-S."

Obama delivered his economic message in Toledo, a struggling blue-collar city in a state that could be critical to Obama's presidential hopes. Polls show a close race between Obama and Republican John McCain in Ohio, which decided the 2004 presidential election. At stake are 20 electoral votes.

His call for action comes just two days before the final debate of the presidential race and at a time when McCain is sending mixed signals about how he'll address the economy. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key McCain adviser, said Sunday the Republican candidate was considering a proposal to reduce taxes on investment, including a possible cut in capital gains taxes, but McCain offered no new economic proposals when he gave a new stump speech Monday morning promising a change in direction from the economic policies of President Bush.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds accused Obama of planning to raise taxes if elected, something that would "have a devastating effect" on the troubled economy. Obama's plan calls for raising taxes only on the 5% of people who make more than $250,000 a year. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that under Obama's approach the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers would see their taxes go up on average by $93,709 in 2009, For McCain, those same wealthy taxpayers would see an average reduction of $48,860.

Obama is proposing tax cuts for those making less than $200,000 a year. Obama's latest proposals are in addition to other policies the Illinois senator has already offered as the stock market struggles, financial institutions wobble and tight credit chokes the economy. Obama supported the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan and endorsed the latest twist on it: the government buying ownership in major banks and partially nationalizing them to keep them afloat. He also calls for tax breaks for most families, cutting capital gains taxes for investment in small business and extending unemployment benefits.

Obama proposed Monday that banks participating in the federal bailout should temporarily postpone foreclosures for families making good-faith efforts to pay their mortgage.

"We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet," he said, adding that families living beyond their means share some of the responsibility. Part of the reason this crisis occurred, if we're honest with ourselves, is that everyone was living beyond their means, from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street," Obama said.

He also called for a $3,000 tax credit for each additional fulltime job a business creates. That means a business that adds five jobs would get a $15,000 break. That would end after 2010 and would cost $40 billion, the campaign estimates. Obama proposes letting people withdraw up to 15% of their retirement funds, to a maximum of $10,000, without the penalty that now applies to early or excess withdrawals. The change would apply retroactively to all of 2008, as well as 2009. People would still have to pay normal taxes on the money. He said letting people dip into their IRAs and 401(k)s would help them get through tough times when money is tight.

State and local governments face a money crunch, too, and Obama called for new federal short-term loans to help them through the crisis. He called it a "funding backstop" to ensure that states and cities can meet payroll or keep projects moving. He ended the speech with a call for people to unite and make sacrifices, as America did during the Great Depression, until the economy is back on track.

"Together, we cannot fail. Not now. Not when we have a crisis to solve and an economy to save. Not when there are so many Americans without jobs and without homes," Obama said. "We can do this because we've done it before."

Barack Obama Planning Infomercial

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has announced plans to air a 30 minute infomercial six days before the election durring prime time on October 29. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign has secured the time from CBS and is negotiating with other networks to air the half hour spot.

Obama has been outspending Republican rival John McCain in advertising and has been airing commercials of up to two minutes in length lately. Ross Perot famously aired a 30 minute ad during his independent presidential campaign in 1992, attracting 16.5 million viewers. Obama hopes to do even better than that.

Short political spots have been the traditional way for politicians to communicate with voters. For Barack Obama, however, a longer piece would be a dramatic way to close his argument to voters and roll to election victory next month.

So Who Won the McCain Obama Debate?

So Who Won the McCain Obama Debate?

Neither candidate made any major gaffes, stumbles or snafus during the second presidential debate so it is safe to say that neither candidate won hands down. There were no fireworks, no major water cooler moments. Even though the debaters traded testy jabs over the economy, the Drudge Report went so far as to label the debate "boring." At first glance, it might seem this duel was a draw. Nevertheless, there is a growing consensus among the pundits that McCain lost the debate, not because of what he did but because of what he didn't do: He didn't create the game-changing moment his campaign needed to alter the trajectory of the race.

With McCain lagging in the polls, Politico's Alexander Burns sums up why Obama gets the "W" next to his name: Obama didn't deliver a knockout punch tonight. But he denied his opponent the chance to rescramble the campaign, and that was enough. The day goes to him.

The Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post all concur, in their own way. This snoozefest created a winner because no one won at all.

There were a few in the media who focused more on the apparent tie. Mark Halperin at Time gave McCain a B and Obama a B+. Of McCain, he wrote: The Republican nominee was by turns aggressive, sensitive, conservative and conversational. Successfully presented a negative case against Obama with an upbeat, optimistic smile. Ultimately though, Halperin echoed the general consensus: Obama played it typically cautious and safe, and thus avoided major blunders, knowing if he commits no errors for the next 30 days, he will be the next president of the United States.

Even if you don't put much stock in the talking heads, consider what nonmedia types said. Each candidate stood his ground, looking comfortable in the townhall setting, yet the instapolls showed the same opinion: Obama won.

In the CBS poll, 40% of uncommitted voters said Obama won. 26% said John McCain won, while 34% said it was a tie.

Over at CNN, Obama fared even better in the poll: 54% said he did a better job, 30% gave it to McCain. Despite those numbers, this isn't all bad news for McCain. The CBS poll did have a silver lining respondents still see McCain as more prepared for the job (83% to 58%). The other good news for the Arizona senator: there is about a month left in the campaign. That's enough time for him to find the game-changer he is looking for.