Obama surges ahead of McCain
Sep 22nd, 2008 | By David Harper | Category: Election 2008The Sydney Morning Herald: Five days from their first presidential debate, Democrat Barack Obama has climbed in the polls as Republican John McCain fumbled his response to a looming US economic cataclysm - one that threatened to match the financial catastrophe of the 1930s Great Depression.
The US Congress and the administration of President George W Bush were grappling with a proposed $US700-billion ($870 billion) bail-out plan to save the US economy from full collapse, feeding anxiety among voters who already were far more concerned about their financial futures than any other issue in the 2008 presidential campaign - including the intractable US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.