Obama harps on 'change'; McCain calls him 'redistributionist'

Obama harps on 'change'; McCain calls him 'redistributionist' Washington, Oct 28 (PTI) With the election day just a week away, Republican presidential nominee John McCain sparred with rival Barack Obama over economy, charging that he was planning a "redistribution" of wealth, while the Democrat stuck to his pet theme of "change" from the "failed" policies. McCain, desperate to gain ground after trailing in a series of opinion polls, again sought to project Obama as a "socialist", a term that still arouses suspicion in the US. Campaigning in the key state of Pennsylvania, he dubbed the Democrat a "redistributor-in-chief", a reference to the allegation that if elected, he will be "redistributing" wealth instead of creating opportunities to increase wealth. "Senator Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs. He said even though lower taxes on investment help our economy, he favours higher taxes on investment for 'fairness'," McCain said. "There's nothing 'fair' about driving our economy into the ground. We all suffer when that happens, and that is the problem with Senator Obama's approach to our economy." Obama, in campaign trail in the battleground state of Ohio, placed a "closing argument" before voters, asking them to choose "change" over the "failed" Bush-McCain policies that have led the US to present financial mess. Ohio has been hurting due to the financial crisis and both the nominees were pitching their economic plans there, including the routine take on manufacturing and outsourcing. The US is in the midst of the "worst economic crisis since the Great Depression", Obama said. "I can take one more week of John McCain's attacks, but this country can't take four more years of the same failed politics and the same failed policies. It's time to try something new," he said. PTI