US hopefuls focus on debate clash

Mr Obama warned against helping Wall Street but not ordinary voters

US presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama are starting intensive preparations for their first face-to-face televised debate clash on Friday.

Obama aides said the Illinois senator would spend three days in Florida honing his foreign policy expertise.

During weekend campaigning, both candidates raised doubts over the Bush government's Wall Street bail-out plan.

Mr Obama said it saddled voters with a "staggering price tag". Mr McCain urged better oversight of the rescue package.

Friday's debate at the University of Mississippi - the first of three for the presidential candidates - will focus on international affairs, widely seen as an area in which Mr McCain, the Republican candidate, holds the advantage.

The vice-presidential candidates, Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin, will go head-to-head in one debate, to take place on 2 October.

in a bid to bolster her foreign policy credentials, Mrs Palin, governor of Alaska, is expected to meet the presidents of Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Colombia this week on the fringes of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

'Missed opportunity'

While hunkered down in Tampa, Florida, Mr Obama is expected to spar verbally with veteran lawyer Greg Craig - a foreign policy adviser to former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Mr Craig also acted as a stand-in for President George W Bush when John Kerry was preparing for the debates in 2004.

Mr McCain said Mr Obama had failed to show leadership over the economy

Campaign aides for Mr Obama have played down expectations for the Democratic nominee, while seeking to raise them for Mr McCain.

"This debate offers [Mr McCain] a major home-court advantage and anything short of a game-changing event will be a key missed opportunity for him," said senior Obama adviser Robert Gibbs on Sunday.

Mr Obama, who may hold some campaign events this week in Florida, a swing state, used TV interviews to caution against issuing a "blank cheque" to bail out the US financial system and to call for the interests of ordinary people on "Main Street" to be looked after, as well those of Wall Street.

He said the Bush administration had so far "only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan".

Meanwhile, Mr McCain was expected to use a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday to repeat his warning about the need for oversight of the government's economic rescue plan and urge against awarding big payouts to senior executives of failed financial firms.

On Sunday, Mr McCain argued that Mr Obama had shown a "lack of leadership" over the financial crisis and the Iraq war, suggesting his rival had put politics first.

"Whether it's a reversal in war, or an economic emergency, he reacts as a politician and not as a leader, seeking an advantage for himself instead of a solution for his country," Mr McCain said, speaking at a National Guard convention in Maryland.

Mr McCain supported the Bush administration's "surge" strategy of sending extra troops in to Iraq, credited with helping to reduce violence there. Mr Obama opposed the plan, which was unpopular with voters.