WASHINGTON — Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain warily addressed the nation’s financial crisis and a proposed $700 billion response Tuesday, demanding changes in the Bush administration’s plan without specifying exactly what would trigger their outright opposition.
The issue is bedeviling both candidates, who know the Nov. 4 election could turn on voters’ sense of who can best prevent a deep recession. They have acted cautiously so far, avoiding the intense debate in Congress and offering similar calls for greater oversight and taxpayer protections, which rank among the less controversial criticisms of the plan.
Neither campaign has changed its tax or spending proposals even though the country suddenly faces the prospect of much higher deficits, an overhaul of key financial institutions and the essential nationalization of the country’s largest insurance company.
Economists and analysts say the next president may find it very difficult to keep his promises because of a worsening fiscal environment.
As Congress nears a showdown over the $700 billion bailout, Obama and McCain almost surely will have to take a stand. Obama said he would return to Washington to vote if the outcome is likely to be close.
Both men know that many voters dislike the proposal but that lawmakers who oppose it risk blame if congressional inaction leads to even deeper economic calamities.
Within a few hours of each other, the candidates faced cameras and reporters Tuesday to amplify their reactions to the mess, reading from texts before taking questions.
Both called for greater oversight, for ensuring that taxpayers benefit if repackaged loans are sold at a profit or the bailed-out companies recover and for limiting the pay of executives at firms covered by the bailout.
Republican McCain called for putting the plans online for the public to see. Obama, the Democrat, called for helping homeowners in danger of foreclosure. He also renewed his call for a stimulus package of tax cuts, which McCain has opposed.
Both men sidestepped questions on which of their demands were nonnegotiable “deal breakers.” Neither man has modified his tax and spending proposals despite a dramatically changed financial landscape.
Obama said his proposed middle- class tax cuts remain “absolutely necessary.” He repeated his assertion that he has found ways to pay for his proposed boosts to subsidies for health care, education, retirement savings, renewable energy and other priorities, and he said they would not be affected by the bailout.
On Monday, he had suggested he might delay implementing some lower-priority plans. The furthest he went Tuesday was: “It would be irresponsible to say I am not going to take into account what things look like” if he assumes office in January.
McCain says he still plans to extend President Bush’s tax cuts for high-income people, even though the bailout would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal deficit.
He also favors increased federal spending for nuclear power and to combat greenhouse gases.
McCain’s agenda is built “around policies to create jobs in America and get the economy going,” said his top financial adviser, Doug Holtz- Eakin.
