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McCain and Obama clash on economy

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-06 09:21

CEDARBURG, Wisconsin -- Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama, back on the campaign trail after their party conventions, clashed over the ailing US economy on Friday as unemployment hit its highest monthly rate in nearly five years.

Hours after accepting the Republican nomination, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin opened a two-month sprint to the November 4 presidential election in Wisconsin while Democrat Obama headed to Pennsylvania as both sides touted cures for the economy.

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin wave to supporters at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 4, 2008. [Agencies]

A new report showed the US jobless rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.1 percent in August, adding to worries about an economy that opinion polls show was already the top concern for American voters.

"These are tough times," McCain told a crowd of some 12,000 in the Milwaukee suburb of Cedarburg. "Today the jobs report is another reminder.

"All you've ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way, and that's what I intend to do," the Arizona senator said, pledging to keep taxes low and cut them where possible. He issued a statement promising to retrain workers and enact an economic plan that would create jobs.

McCain, who later picked up the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police union, rapped Obama's tax proposals, which include a large tax cut for lower- and middle-class workers but would increase taxes for the wealthiest Americans. "The American people cannot afford a Barack Obama presidency," he said in the statement.

Obama, an Illinois senator, said the job losses showed the need for change in the economic approach used by President George W. Bush since he came into office in 2001.

Speaking to workers at a glass and lens manufacturer in Duryea, Pennsylvania, and chatting with customers while eating banana cream pie at The Avenue Diner in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Obama chided McCain for failing to address the economy at the Republican convention.

"You would think George Bush and his potential Republican successor John McCain would be spending a lot of time worrying about the economy, all these jobs that are being lost on their watch," Obama said.

"But if you watched the Republican national convention over the last three days you wouldn't know that," he said. "We have highest unemployment rate in five years but they didn't say a thing about what is what going on with the middle class."

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