McCain tries fresh comeback bid

By Matt Spetalnick

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Monday sought to assure supporters he can come from behind to defeat Democrat Barack Obama, who proposed new ways to address the economic turmoil.

"My friends, we've got them just where we want them," McCain told rallies in Virginia and North Carolina as he tried to breathe new life into his campaign after a two-week tailspin due largely to his reaction to the U.S. financial crisis.

He distanced himself from unpopular President George W. Bush, saying: "We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change."

With three weeks to go until the November 4 Election Day, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll had McCain down 10 points to Obama, 53 percent to 43 percent, and showed him stalling or losing ground on a range of issues.

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Monday showed Obama with a 4-point lead among likely voters. An average of recent polls by realclearpolitics.com has Obama up 6.8 points.

In Toledo, Ohio, Obama proposed four steps to create jobs and to cushion Americans against the effects of the economic downturn as he campaigned in an area hit hard by the slowdown.

Some analysts described Obama's proposals as modest, but they underscored his campaign's sharp focus on economic concerns and the country's financial crisis.

The Illinois senator has surged based on his steady response to the Wall Street crash, with polls showing he is more trusted by Americans to handle economic issues, and McCain's standing has suffered as a consequence.

"We have 22 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes," McCain told thousands of cheering supporters in Virginia Beach, joined by his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin.

Obama's proposals, costing $60 billion over two years, include tax credits for firms that create new jobs, penalty-free withdrawals from retirement accounts and temporarily barring banks from foreclosing on people trying to pay their mortgages.

"We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give every American a fair shot at the American dream. And above all, we can restore confidence -- confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves," he said.

DISPLEASURE AT TACTICS

Many Republican supporters are expressing displeasure at the McCain campaign's negative tactics, after a week in which his camp tried to raise doubts about Obama by emphasizing his ties to a former 1960s left-wing radical.

"It's time for John McCain to fire his campaign," conservative columnist William Kristol wrote in The New York Times.

He said the Arizona senator's handlers should "let McCain go back to what he's been good at in the past -- running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate."