Voters weary of attacks, candidates agree

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- John McCain and Barack Obama acknowledged during Wednesday night's debate the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign is tough and has gone down an aggressive path.

Voters are growing weary of the negative tit-for-tat, Obama said during the final presidential debate, conducted at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

"The American people are less interested in our hurt feelings than on matters that matter to them so deeply," he said. For the remainder of the campaign, voters want to hear the candidates "talk about what is most pressing to them."

"The fact is, Senator Obama is spending unprecedented amounts of money in negative attack ads on me," McCain said.

McCain also called out Obama for linking the Arizona Republican to President George Bush.

"I am not President Bush," he said.

Obama also addressed the controversy surrounding his association with 1960s anti-war radical Bill Ayers and ACORN, an activist non-profit accused of voter registration fraud in several states.

The Illinois senator said he and Ayers served on a board 10 years ago but the Weather Underground co-founder "is not involved in my campaign ... and he will not advise me in the White House."

Regarding ACORN, Obama said his campaign had nothing to do with its registration campaign.

McCain sought Obama's repudiation of remarks by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., that compared McCain's campaign and demeanor at rallies to conditions fomented by the late Alabama segregationist George Wallace. Obama responded that both campaigns "need to be careful" about words and deeds.