GOP worries about McCain's direction

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By Liz Sidoti, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Three weeks before the election, Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about John McCain's ability to mount a comeback, questioning his tactics and even his campaign's main thrust in a White House race that is increasingly focused on economic turmoil.

"He has to make the case that he's different than Bush and better than Obama on the economy," said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of more than a dozen prominent Republicans who, in interviews during the past week, expressed concern over the course of Mr. McCain's bid.

"If he doesn't win that case, it's all over, and it's going to be a very bad year for Republicans."

Several Republicans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the campaign should have sought to plant doubts about rival Democratic candidate Barack Obama's associations with 1960s-era radical William Ayers and others months ago, rather than waiting until the campaign's final weeks. Doing so now, they said, makes Mr. McCain come off as angry, grouchy and desperate, playing into Democrats' hands.

A top adviser to Mr. McCain said Sunday that the Arizona senator is weighing new economic proposals to help the nation weather the financial crisis.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said Mr. McCain was considering policy proposals that would cut taxes on investments.

"I think it goes along the lines of now's the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started," Mr. Graham said on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "It will be a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes."

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign put the Clintons in the spotlight Sunday at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It was the launch of an active campaign for former President Bill Clinton in the homestretch of the Illnois senator's presidential race.

The nation's best-known and most powerful Democrats for nearly two decades, the former first couple is getting used to a new role: cheerleaders for Mr. Obama, who vanquished Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last spring in a Democratic primary contest for the ages.

The couple appeared with Mr. Obama's running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., at a rally Sunday in Scranton, a working-class town that has assumed something of an outsize role in the presidential race.

Mr. Biden was born in Scranton and lived there for several years as a child; Mrs. Clinton's father grew up in the town and is buried there.

After the rally, the Clintons will follow separate itineraries through presidential battleground states. They will also campaign on behalf of Democratic House and Senate candidates across the country.

Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama meet Wednesday in their third and final debate; it's seen as Mr. McCain's best chance to make a lasting impression.

"He has an opportunity to step up and be a forceful leader during these challenging times," said Ron Kaufman, a veteran party operative. "McCain got the nomination because that's what his brand is, but somehow it's gotten muddled."