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Obama: Bad policy led to bad economy

SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The falling GDP indicator is a "direct result" of policies that drove the U.S. economy "into the ditch," Democratic candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Besides learning that the gross domestic product fell for the first time this year, "we saw the largest decline in consumer spending in 28 years as wages failed to keep up with the rising cost of living," Obama said during a campaign appearance in Sarasota, Fla.

"Now, this didn't happen by accident," the Illinois senator said. "Our falling GDP is a direct result of eight years of the trickle-down, Wall Street first-Main Street last policies that have driven our economy into a ditch," he said.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain will would offer more of the same policies promulgated by the administration of President George Bush, Obama said.

"And you've got to ask yourself, after nine straight months of job losses and the largest drop in home values on record, with wages lower than they've been in a decade," he said, "why would we keep on driving down this dead end street?"

McCain points up difference with Obama

DEFIANCE, Ohio, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain assailed his Democratic rival Thursday, saying he was untested in foreign policy and wrong on domestic issues.

"We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world," McCain told a rally at Defiance, Ohio, saying Obama has not been tested in an international crisis. "We know Senator Obama won't have the right response to that test, because we've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign."

On domestic matters, the Illinois senator was a tax-and-spend liberal, McCain said.

"We have a clear difference, Senator Obama and I do," the Arizona senator said. "He wants to raise your taxes. Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse."

Obama believes in "redistributing wealth and income, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs," McCain said.

McCain urged the audience to "(fight) to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead. ... Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies."

Poll: Too much money spent on campaign

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Seven in 10 U.S. adults say too much money has been spent on the U.S. presidential campaigns, the most expensive in history, a Gallup Poll indicates.

Eighty-four percent of supporters of Republican Sen. John McCain and 58 percent of supporters of Democrat Sen. Barack Obama -- or 70 percent of overall adults -- told Gallup the presidential campaigns had exceeded their sense of what was appropriate, the pollster said.

And while 57 percent said they backed limits on how much candidates were allowed to spend, nearly two-thirds said they weren't sure whether Obama or McCain received public financing, thereby limiting spending to $84 million. Only McCain is.

When informed of this, the vast majority said it did not affect their opinion of the candidates, Gallup said.

Fifteen percent said they took a more positive view of McCain's decision compared with 6 percent who took a less favorable view.

Eight percent said Obama's decision -- the first major-party nominee to bypass spending limits since a system was established after the 1972 Watergate scandal -- made them feel more favorably toward him and 18 percent said they felt less favorably.

The Tuesday telephone poll of 1,010 U.S. adults age 18 and older has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, Gallup said.

Convicted Stevens stumps in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens returned to Alaska a convicted felon to begin a six-day campaign and to ask voters to return him to Washington for a seventh term.

Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, faces a re-election challenge from Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska.

Stevens returned to Alaska Wednesday, two days after a federal jury in Washington convicted him on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations on Senate financial disclosure forms, The New York Times reported Thursday. He has maintained his innocence and vowed to appeal the verdict.

"I will represent Alaska in the Senate while my lawyers pursue the appeals to clear my name," Stevens said during a rally in Anchorage.

The Republican ticket of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called for Stevens to step aside, as did Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and GOP congressional leaders.

Stevens accused federal prosecutors of being "willing to do anything to win," implying that conducting the trial in Washington wasn't proper, the Times reported.

"If I had had a fair trial in Alaska, I would have been acquitted," Stevens said.

Energy, animals, gambling on ballots

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Proposals on state ballots will ask U.S. voters to consider chickens' living conditions, funding education through gambling and alternative energy use.

A term-limit question -- repealing, not enacting -- is on South Dakota ballot, while three states ask their voters to consider alternative energy sources, USA Today reported Thursday.

Besides seeking humane conditions for egg-laying chickens, California also is asking voters to repeal a court ruling legalizing gay marriages.

"This is a fairly new issue to the ballot," says Jennie Drage Bowser, who tracks ballot measures for the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington. "It's a direct response to the demand for energy independence and the rising cost of energy."

Voters in 36 states will consider 153 ballot measures, the newspaper said. Most are referenda placed on the ballot by state legislatures but 59 are grass-roots efforts that needed tens of thousands of signatures to be considered.

Missouri, California and Colorado have alternative energy on their ballots. Voters in California, Colorado and South Dakota will consider abortion-related questions. Marijuana questions are on the ballot in California, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Eight states are rolling the dice on gambling questions: Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon Ohio, Massachusetts and Maine.

Police use stun gun on undercover agent

PENSACOLA, Fla., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A police spokesman said officers used a stun gun on an undercover state agent in Pensacola, Fla., due to a case of mistaken identity.

Escambia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Glenn Austin said agent Ira McQueen of the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco was shot with a stun gun by officers responding to a burglary call, the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal said Thursday.

Austin said unbeknown to area authorities, the agent was conducting an undercover operation aimed at finding retailers who sell alcohol to minors.

"We had no idea that operation was going on," Austin said of Tuesday's incident. "We were called there for a robbery."

McQueen, who was dressed in civilian clothes at the time of the incident, was recovering Wednesday at his home from being hit with the stun gun.

A Department of Business and Professional Regulation spokeswoman told the News Journal the incident would be investigated to determine if McQueen and his partner followed procedure in their undercover assignment.