McCain seeks solutions to U.S. housing crisis

By Tim Gaynor

SANTA ANA, Calif. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, looking to bolster his economic credentials, promised on Tuesday to find an answer to the U.S. housing crisis but came under fire from Democrats for failing to back a specific approach.

McCain, who has been criticized as weak on the economy, said he was open to a variety of solutions to ease problems in U.S. housing markets and called for quick meetings of mortgage lenders and accountants to begin to tackle the issue.

"I will not play election year politics with the housing crisis. I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now," the Arizona senator told business leaders in southern California.

"I will consider any and all proposals based on their cost and benefits. In this crisis, as in all I may face in the future, I will not allow dogma to override common sense," he said.

McCain has clinched the Republican nomination and will face the winner of the Democratic race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in November's presidential election.

Democrats have pounced on past comments that he knows less about economics than about foreign policy and national security to paint him as a risky and out-of-touch choice for the White House at a time of U.S. economic uncertainty.

McCain received the same criticism from fellow Republicans before the won the battle for the party's nomination.

But McCain's speech did not win over Democrats, who attacked his failure to spell out a plan to tackle housing problems and compared his stance to that of President George W. Bush.

"Instead of offering a concrete plan to address the crisis at all levels, McCain promised to take the same hands off approach that President Bush used to lead us into this crisis," Democratic Party chief Howard Dean said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said McCain was "suggesting that the best way to address the housing crisis is to sit back and watch it happen -- which is just further evidence that he would continue President Bush's failed economic policies."

NANCY REAGAN ENDORSEMENT

McCain did win the endorsement of former first lady Nancy Reagan, widow of President Ronald Reagan, who said the former prisoner of war in Vietnam had been a good friend for 30 years.

"I believe John's record and experience have prepared him well to be our next president," she said.

McCain outlined in the speech the problems facing the U.S. housing market and said he would not back steps that rewarded those who had acted "irresponsibly" in feeding turmoil in the housing market.

"I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers," he said.

"Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy," McCain said.

He said the government could do two things right away -- convene separate meetings of accounting professionals and of mortgage lenders to begin to hash out solutions to the housing crisis.

McCain's speech came one day after Clinton offered a plan in Pennsylvania to ease uncertainty in U.S. housing markets. Obama also has offered a series of steps aimed at easing the housing crisis.

Clinton and Obama, locked in a tight battle for the Democratic nomination, have competed to be seen as the most reliable stewards of the economy amid a potential recession and turmoil in housing and financial markets.

Obama, an Illinois senator, released his tax returns from 2000 to 2006 and challenged Clinton, a New York senator, to release her most recent filings. Her campaign has promised to make her returns since 2001 public by three days before the next contest in Pennsylvania on April 22.

Clinton told reporters she made a mistake when she recently said she came under sniper fire when she arrived in Bosnia on a 1996 visit while first lady. Other participants and video footage showed a casual arrival, with Clinton greeting a young girl.

She also criticized Obama for remaining a member of the Chicago church where his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made inflammatory comments about racism and the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"We don't have a choice when it comes to our relatives. We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend," she told reporters in Pennsylvania.

Obama gave a speech last week rejecting Wright's racially charged remarks and urging Americans to move past their "racial stalemate."

(Writing by John Whitesides; editing by Patricia Wilson and David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)