Summary

NAME: US CANDIDATES 20080918I TAPE: EF08/0951 IN_TIME: 11:23:47:14 DURATION: 00:02:32:08 SOURCES: ABC DATELINE: Various - 18 Sept 2008 RESTRICTIONS: No Access North America/Internet SHOTLIST Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1 US Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin waving to crowd, and disembarking campaign plane 2 McCain and Palin on airport tarmac, walking towards event 3 McCain and Palin shaking hands with cheering supporters 4 Zoom in to Palin and McCain waving to cheering supporters at campaign rally 5 SOUNDBITE: (English) John McCain, Republican Presidential Nominee: The chairman of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) serves at the appointment of the president and in my view has betrayed the public trust If I were president today I would fire him UPSOUND: crowd applause 6 Cutaway of supporters at rally 7 SOUNDBITE: (English) John McCain, Republican Presidential Nominee: We can't wait any longer for more failures in our financial system Espanola, New Mexico 8 Wide of cheering supporters at Democrat campaign rally 9 SOUNDBITE: (English) Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Nominee: This is not a time for fear, it's not a time for panic, this is a time for resolve and it is a time for leadership ++UPSOUND: crowd applause++ I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis That's who we are That's what we've always done as Americans 10 Wide of campaign rally 11 SOUNDBITE: (English) Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Nominee: Today he said he's calling for the firing of the Securities and Exchange Commission Well, I think that's all fine and good, but here's what I say: in the next 47 days, you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd in Washington who have led us down this disastrous path Don't just get rid of one guy, get rid of this administration, get rid of this philosophy, get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problems and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you 12 Wide of rally STORYLINE US Republican presidential candidate John McCain, battling to distance himself from the Bush administration and blame for the worst economic instability in nearly 80 years, called for the firing of the chief regulator of US financial markets on Thursday Speaking at a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, accompanied by his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, McCain said he would fire the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Christopher Cox, and vowed to create a trust to work with the private sector and regulators to identify weak financial institutions and work to strengthen them The chairman of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) serves at the appointment of the president and in my view has betrayed the public trust, McCain said If I were president today, I would fire him The SEC polices the US financial marketplace We can't wait any longer for more failures in our financial system, McCain said, to rapturous applause from rally supporters American voters' No One concern in this election is the faltering economy, despite protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan And as the stock market plummets and American financial giants go out of business or find themselves struggling to survive, McCain's post-convention bounce, mainly driven by his surprise pick of Palin as the party's first female vice presidential nominee, has vanished National polls suggested that McCain's edge had slipped since the upheaval in the US financial landscape The latest CBS News-New York Times national survey showed Obama leading McCain by a margin of 48 percent to 43 percent, a swing of seven percentage points in just a week The poll also found Americans believed Obama was more likely than McCain to bring needed change to Washington by a 65-to-37 percentage-point margin The latest Gallup Poll daily tracking survey also put Obama ahead, with 48 percent to McCain's 44 percent A poll by Pew Research Centre gave the Democrat a slight two percentage-point lead, a statistical tie Meanwhile, at a campaign rally in Espanola, New Mexico, Obama responded to McCain's call by arguing that a complete administration change was needed Don't just get rid of one guy, get rid of this administration, get rid of this philosophy, get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problems and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you, Obama said He also appealed for calm amid continued financial insecurities in the US economy This is not a time for fear, it's not a time for panic, this is a time for resolve and it is a time for leadership, he said, to cheers from rally supporters I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis That's who we are That's what we've always done as Americans The ripple effects from the meltdown of the US economy continued on Thursday as the stock market shot up dramatically after even greater losses on Monday and Wednesday The market had fallen steeply in response to the bankruptcy of storied Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers, the decision of a second powerful investment house to sell itself at a fire-sale price and the Federal Reserve's 85 (b) billion US dollar intervention to save the country's largest insurance company from collapse