Voters say economy overshadows political hoopla

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Trudy Tucker doesn't know if the back-to-back U.S. political conventions addressed the financial worries she has raising four children -- she was too busy to watch.

"I didn't hear much about that, to be honest," said Tucker, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, as she shopped at discount retailer Target in Cincinnati.

"The economy is depressed. Our money isn't stretching as far," said Tucker, 40. With four kids to home school and coupons to clip to save money, the political conventions fell by the wayside.

"I didn't have time to watch," she said.

Chicago real estate agent Kathy Ivcich did catch some of the speechmaking but the celebratory atmosphere among the delegates left her wondering if they felt any of the economic pain she's experiencing.

"We're feeling it in a city like Chicago; I can't imagine these people aren't hurting, too, but I guess not," said Ivcich, 45, an independent voter.

The hoopla of the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions captivated political junkies over the past two weeks but gloomy employment news released on Friday showed many Americans may be feeling left out of the party.

Government data showed the unemployment rate climbed to 6.1 percent in August, the highest in nearly five years, as employers shed 84,000 jobs. It was the eighth straight month of job cuts and brought losses over the last three months to nearly a quarter of a million jobs.

Both McCain and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama hit the ground running after their respective conventions, meeting with voters in battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania to promise change in Washington, and to help consumers with fresh tax and energy policies.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

While McCain is trying to distance himself from Republican President George W. Bush, whose eight-year tenure has featured a rise in unemployment and a growing housing and credit crisis, Obama has struggled to convince working-class voters that he feels their pain.

Bernice Shiney, a nurse in Nashville, Tennessee, watched some of both the Democratic and Republican conventions but was left feeling that nothing that was stated was relevant to her.

"They haven't said a thing," Shiney said. "It's all a personal thing with them, to see if they can beat each other down and win. That's what it's all about."

McCain trails Obama slightly in most national opinion polls as they head toward the November 4 election but the vote is still considered too close to call. Opinion polls show majorities favor Obama's leadership on the economy, although McCain is usually favored on foreign policy issues.

Economist Christian Weller of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress said that while both men have put forth long-term proposals to address tax or energy policies, dismal economic data will likely force them to come up with specific short-term plans to try to win over undecided voters.

"They both will have to connect, especially in battleground states, to the plight of American families. It's not just the unemployment numbers, it's the rising foreclosures, rising bankruptcies, rising prices," Weller said. "People want to hear not only about the plan for five years out or eight years out, but, 'How will you help me pay my fuel bill in the winter.'"

But Cincinnati mom Meghan Guitron, 28, said she was skeptical any politician would help with her family's budget.

"Gas prices, grocery bills -- it would be nice to see some improvement in that, but I don't know how much they can guarantee," said Guitron, a stay-at-home mother of one.

Instead, Guitron said she would vote for Obama simply to help break the Republican hold on the White House.

"More than anything, I just feel we need a change."

(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern and Mike Conlon in Chicago and Pat Harris in Nashville; Editing by Eric Walsh)