Voters worry about economy, eye election choices

By Andrea Hopkins

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - U.S. voters greeted news of another Wall Street bailout on Wednesday with anger, anxiety and resignation -- and mixed opinions as to whether either presidential candidate can fix the financial mess.

As global markets absorbed Tuesday's surprise $85 billion rescue of insurer American International Group by the U.S. Federal Reserve and White House hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain scrambled to craft a campaign response, ordinary Americans worried about the future.

"It's not quite panic in the streets, but who knows when the market is going to correct itself?" said Dan Wiggins, a part-time consultant in Cincinnati, as he sipped a morning coffee at Starbucks. "I'm definitely worried."

A day of new losses on Wall Street and banner headlines about the nation's financial turmoil left voters debating the wisdom of the AIG bailout and the safety of their investments.

Wiggins, a lifelong Republican, said he didn't understand why the government was rushing in to save some companies but letting others fail -- and he wasn't convinced either Democrat Obama or Republican McCain was capable of helping.

"Too many politicians want to fix problems they created," said Wiggins, 58. "I don't know what I'm going to do in November. I might not vote."

In Detroit, computer assisted design technician Mandi Spence said the government was wrong to rescue AIG.

"I don't like that they do that. As a company, you take the big risks, that's part of life. They shouldn't bail them out. Let them fail," said Spence, 29.

In Phoenix, cell phone company manager Moses Zonana blamed "greed and the over-extension of credit" for the meltdown but backed the AIG bailout. He said Obama, a first-term senator, would have an upper hand over long-time Arizona Sen. McCain in dealing with the crisis.

"Obama is more of an academic ... He will understand better how to deal with these types of problems," Zonana said.

ILL-EQUIPPED

But Bob Fitzpatrick, a retired manager from Salomon Brothers also interviewed in Phoenix, did not think either candidate knew how to handle the crisis.

"McCain and Obama are ill equipped, both of them. To people in the business it's obvious," Fitzpatrick said.

"The problem is there are too few people in government or the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) who really understand what goes on in the financial markets."

On the campaign trail, Obama and McCain remained neck-and-neck in opinion polls as they tried to take the upper hand on economic issues that promise to dominate the political debate until the November 4 presidential election.