McCain comes out swinging in last debate

GOP presidential candidate John McCain, trailing in key battleground states, assumed an aggressive posture in his last debate against Democratic rival Barack Obama Wednesday night as he sought to halt the Illinois senator’s momentum. 

McCain came out swinging, accusing Obama of “class warfare” and wanting to raise taxes at a time when doing so would further cripple the American economy.

{mosads}The Arizona senator led off the debate referring to an episode earlier this week, when Obama told a plumber that his small business would be better off if his customers were living in a vibrant economy, telling the plumber “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

McCain made “Joe the plumber” the centerpiece of his early attack strategy, repeatedly referencing the Ohio voter.

“What you want to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him is raise their taxes,” McCain said. He added: “I want Joe the plumber to spread the wealth around.”

Obama stayed on message for the early part of the debate, directing questions about the negative tone of the campaign back to the economy and comparing McCain to President Bush.

“I am not President Bush,” McCain said. “If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should’ve run four years ago.”

The tone of the campaign entered into the fray about a third of the way through the debate, but neither candidate yielded, each one claiming the other is running the nastier campaign.

McCain did attack Obama for his relationships with 1960s domestic terrorist William Ayers and ACORN, leading the Illinois senator to offer a widespread explanation of his associations with them and his current relationships with respectable business, political and military leaders.

Obama said the fact that McCain has focused so much of his campaign on Ayers in recent weeks “says more about your campaign than it says about me.”