Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, Wednesday lashed out at Republicans for ignoring the dragging economy and its impact on ordinary people's lives in the opening session of their presidential nominating session. ( dpa )
Obama, referring to speeches delivered Tuesday evening in St Paul, Minnesota, charged that none of the speakers mentioned the economic hardships and the struggles people are having in sending their children to college or hanging on to pensions.
The speakers included US President George W Bush, who spoke from the White House via remote satellite connection, and independent Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman.
One of Senator John McCain's rivals for the nomination, former senator Fred Thompson, did mention economic issues, saying that the Democrats make it sound like the country is "in the middle of a great depression" while living in the "most generous and prosperous nation in the history of the world."
Obama, who was campaigning in Ohio, a key battleground state in the November 4 elections, said in broadcast remarks that McCain was fighting a campaign based on personality, not issues.
"What are we going to do about keeping jobs in Ohio and retirees losing their pensions and social security for the next generation?" Obama asked.
He charged that McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee who will be officially nominated in St Paul later Wednesday evening, has boasted about how the economy "has made great progress" during Bush's eight years in office.
"I measure progress and the Democrats measure progress differently," McCain said. "I don't measure progress by how some fortune 500 CEO is doing. I measure it by whether you can find a job that pays the bills."