McCain, Obama seek reform amid US financial turmoil

By Jeff Mason

LAKE ORION, Michigan (Reuters) - John McCain called for an end to the "casino culture on Wall Street" and Barack Obama demanded protection for ordinary citizens on Wednesday as financial markets stumbled again on news of a government bailout of a giant U.S. insurer.

The financial turmoil, the worst since the Great Depression, kept the U.S. economy at the forefront of the presidential campaign. Republican McCain, a longtime supporter of financial deregulation, joined Democrat Obama in demanding new rules to eliminate Wall Street permissiveness.

Their comments came after the Federal Reserve effectively took control of American International Group, the fourth huge financial company the government has had to prop up in the continuing crisis over plummeting U.S. mortgage values.

"These actions stem from failed regulation, reckless management, and a casino culture on Wall Street that has crippled one of the most important companies in America," McCain said.

"We need strong and effective regulation, a return to job-creating growth and a restoration of ethics and the social contract between businesses and America," he said.

Amid the financial turmoil, Obama took a slight lead over McCain in national opinion polls.

A Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday showed Obama leading McCain among likely voters by 47 percent to 45 percent. A CBS News/New York Times poll gave Obama a 48 percent to 43 percent lead among registered voters.

A two-minute Obama advertisement on the economy called for ending "the 'anything goes' culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions."

To a crowd of some 1,800 supporters in Elko, Nevada, he portrayed McCain as a new convert to regulatory oversight and ridiculed what he characterized as his opponent's missteps in talking about the economy.

"His first reaction to this crisis on Monday was to stand up and repeat the line that he's said over and over and over again throughout this campaign -- I quote -- 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong,'" the Illinois senator said, noting that Monday was Wall Street's worst day in seven years.

When the fourth-term Arizona senator spoke on Tuesday, Obama added, "John McCain actually said that if he's president, he'll take on the -- and I quote -- 'the old boy network' in Washington."

"The old boy network?" he added. "In the McCain campaign, that's called a staff meeting."

SUPPORTING THE BAILOUT

Both candidates for the November 4 election reluctantly supported the government bailout of AIG. "On the bailout itself, I didn't want to do that," McCain said on ABC television's "Good Morning America."

But then he added, "There were literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investments, whose insurance were at risk here, and they were going to have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption."