Always the relevant topic, McCain and Obama have been sniping over economic plans and the concept of a second “stimulus” package. Obama is attempting to link McCain to Bush and McCain is simply claiming that Obama’s policies won’t work.

Story from Yahoo News:

DENVER – Barack Obama and John McCain agree on this much: The economy is staggering under the Bush administration, and Americans are hurting. But who’s to blame and how best to fix it?

Well, they part ways on that, as they made clear in dueling economic speeches Monday on the issue that has taken center stage in their presidential contest.

Obama said that McCain offers a third term of President Bush’s policies.

“John McCain’s policies are essentially a repeat, a regurgitation of what we’ve been hearing from the Republican Party over the last two decades, maybe three,” Obama said in St. Louis, where his plane made an unscheduled stop because of mechanical problems that forced him to cancel an appearance in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s part of the reason that we’re in the situation that we find ourselves in right now.”

McCain has been forced into a more defensive crouch because his party has held the White House while jobs, home values, stock prices and consumer confidence have tumbled.

While calling Obama’s plans expensive and unwise on Monday, he tried to distance himself from President Bush where he could.

“This Congress and this administration have failed to meet their responsibilities to manage the government,” McCain said in Denver. “Government has grown by 60 percent in the last eight years. That is simply inexcusable.”

He promised to veto “every single bill with wasteful spending.”

McCain has said the economy is not his strong suit, and on Monday he seemed eager to show a deeper understanding of the topic, even as he dismissed experts.

Video of McCain touting his plans:

Obama also touting his plans:

I think McCain’s strategy at this point is to get out ahead of the issue, the point being to not let Obama paint him as “Bush 2.0″ on the economy. Obama has many choices in terms of economic issues to tackle considering the high cost of fuel and other items. This will continue to be an ongoing topic. Unfortunately I think it’s boring next to issues concerning the Iraq War.