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60 Days to the Election: A look at the race for 2008 on Friday

By The Associated Press

5:43 PM EDT, September 5, 2008

IN THE HEADLINES

Obama says McCain and GOP are out of touch with middle-class struggles ... McCain and Palin present themselves as eager reformers ... Poll finds only 4 in 10 say Palin has enough experience to be president; number is higher for Biden ... Subpoenas to be issued for Troopergate probe of Palin in Alaska ...

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Obama: McCain focused on biography, not economy

DURYEA, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class.

"If you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn't know that we have the highest unemployment in five years because they didn't say a thing about what is going on with the middle class," Obama told workers at a specialty glass factory.

"They spent a lot of time talking about John McCain's biography, which we all honor," the Illinois senator said. "They talked about me a lot, in less than respectful terms. What they didn't talk about is you and what you're seeing in your lives and what you're going through, or what your friends or your neighbors are going through."

Obama pointed out that the nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August, according to a government jobs report issued Friday.

"We've now lost 605,000 jobs since the beginning of this year," Obama said. "We've had eight consecutive months of job losses."

Obama seized on the new jobs report as part of his strategy to tie McCain to President Bush's stewardship of the economy and to connect with voters who fear their jobs will disappear. There is no shortage of such voters in Rust Belt Pennsylvania.

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McCain says 'it's over' for special interests

CEDARBURG, Wis. (AP) — John McCain said Friday the sagging economy has brought "tough times all over America" as the newly chosen Republican presidential ticket debuted in critical Midwestern states.

A crowd of thousands cheered the Arizona senator and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as they presented themselves as a team of reformers eager to challenge Washington's political establishment.

"John McCain doesn't run with the Washington herd," said Palin, the 44-year-old surprise pick as McCain's running mate.

"It's over. It's over. It's over for the special interests," McCain promised. "We're going to start working for the people of this country."

Twelve hours after leaving the Republican convention in Minnesota, McCain and Palin were cheered and applauded by a throng of thousands that wound down several streets of Cedarburg, a traditional Republican enclave within Democratic-leaning Wisconsin.

McCain's campaign put out an ambitious estimate of 12,400 people at the rally. Cedarburg's population is about 11,000.

Two months before the election, small towns are a key target for McCain as he tries to lure independent and blue-collar voters essential for him to win.

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