McCain considering new economic plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is considering rolling out a new comprehensive economic package to tackle the U.S. financial crisis, one of his closest supporters said on Sunday.

"I think it goes along the lines that now is the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

McCain, 72, who was in the Washington area and off the campaign trail on Sunday, prepared for his debate on Wednesday against Democratic rival Barack Obama.

That debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will be the last of three face-offs between the two candidates before the November 4 election and will give McCain one more chance to reverse his recent slide in the polls.

Obama, 47, opened a 6-point lead over McCain in a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday. Other polls, too, show the Democratic senator from Illinois pulling away, and some give him a lead in double digits.

Much of Obama's improvement has been credited to the public thinking he is much better at handling the economy than McCain. Obama has criticized McCain as being erratic on his economic proposals, jumping from one idea to another.

A new plan would be designed to help McCain shore up his economic credentials. Politico, the online political news report, said more than 30 ideas had been put forward but there was no final package, although whatever developed was likely to include at least temporary tax cuts for capital gains and dividends.

"It will be a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy, by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes," Graham said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

DEBATE PREPARATIONS

Obama was also off the campaign trail preparing for the debate. He planned to go to Toledo, Ohio, for three days of preparation, with a campaign rally scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Ohio with its 20 Electoral College votes is a main battleground of the campaign. It was the state that put President George W. Bush over the top in 2004 and no Republican has won the White House without taking Ohio.

Recent polls show a statistical dead heat in the state with Obama slightly ahead.

McCain too planned a rally in a crucial state on Monday. The Arizona senator will hold a rally with his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

With 13 electoral votes, Virginia has not gone Democratic since 1964 but recent polls show Obama opening up a lead there.

McCain told cheering volunteers at his main Virginia office that he would be campaigning especially hard in Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada in the final stretch of the race after Wednesday's debate.

"...After I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we're going to be going out 24/7," he said.

But McCain -- who had escalated character attacks on Obama then last week sought to rein in rising hostility among his supporters toward his rival -- added: "I want to emphasize again. I respect Sen. Obama. We will conduct a respectful race, and we will make sure that everybody else does too and that's important."

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Cynthia Osterman)