MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Not surprisingly, the stock market and the economy were hot topics on the campaign trail. Democrats, here's the opportunity to criticize President Bush, and all the candidates took time to call attention to their economic plans and credentials.
NPR's Mara Liasson has that story.
MARA LIASSON: Here's Democrat Barack Obama at an event today in Greenville, South Carolina.
(Soundbite of political speech)
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): We woke up this morning to a bad news from Wall Street…
LIASSON: Part of the reason for the plunge is the wide perception that the Bush administration's initial stimulus proposal would not do enough to avoid a recession. And although Obama said he hoped the interest rate cut announced by the Federal Reserve today would help restore confidence, he blamed Washington for the market tumble and other economic problems.
Sen. OBAMA: What started as a crisis in the housing market has now spilled over to the rest of the economy. Banks are facing a credit crunch, leaving businesses with less money to invest and more Americans unable to get loans. Now for years, we were warned that this might happen, but Washington did what Washington increasingly does: It looked the other way.
LIASSON: Hillary Clinton, back in Washington this morning, repeated a suggestion she made in last night's debate in South Carolina, one that showcased her knowledge of how the White House works.
(Soundbite of political speech)
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): I think it's imperative that the following steps be taken. The president should have already and should do so very quickly convene the president's working group on financial markets. That's something that he can ask the secretary of the Treasury to do.
LIASSON: John Edwards, in a conference call with reporters this morning, used the R-word.
Mr. JOHN EDWARDS (Former Democratic Senator, North Carolina; Presidential Candidate): The truth is that our country's no longer on a brink of a recession, I think we're in one. And it looks like it could be a serious one. The tragedy of all this actually is that this could have been largely avoided.
LIASSON: The economy has already become the number one issue in the campaign, edging aside Iraq and terrorism even for Republicans, and it's a more complicated one for the GOP since they are the incumbent party and traditionally seen by voters as weaker on this issue than Democrats.
During the Michigan primary, Mitt Romney said only he, a former businessman, could fix the mess. Today, he released this new ad.
(Soundbite of political ad)
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Former Republican Governor, Massachusetts; Presidential Candidate): Today, our economy is slowing. Many feel anxious about the future. I know how America works because I spent my life in the real economy. I ran a business, turned around the Olympics and I led a state. My plan will make our economy strong. We need to invest in people and businesses with tax cuts.
LIASSON: Rudy Giuliani has been emphasizing his fiscal stewardship of New York City as he campaigns across Florida. Today in an interview with NPR, he said that he agreed with the president's short-term stimulus plan but…
Mr. RUDY GIULIANI (Former Republican Mayor, New York; Presidential Candidate): I would emphasize some of the long-term permanent changes because I believe that affect investment. I believe it affects who puts more money in the United States as supposed to putting money somewhere else, who puts more jobs in the United States rather than putting more jobs somewhere else.
LIASSON: John McCain, who like every other candidate has a stimulus package of his own, told the mostly military audience in Florida that the economy is in tough shape.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Presidential Candidate): I believe that we have to do a lot of things. We have to cut spending, we have to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25, we need to make these tax cuts permanent.
LIASSON: None of the candidates wants to be seen as indifferent to the economic plight of people hurt by the market plunge or the mortgage crisis. But from the campaign trail, none of them can do much about either.
Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.