In Fla., Obama Lays Into 'Panicked' Mac

Barack Obama criticized the administration’s response to the plight of working families today, while calling for steps to regulate large financial institutions, CNN reports. “We cannot only have a plan for Wall Street,” he said. “We must also help Main Street as well.” The Democrat used the rally outside Miami to pitch himself to women and retirees in the battleground state.

Obama also continued his assault on Republican John McCain’s uneven response to the crisis: “I think it's clear Sen. McCain is a little panicked right now.” He also tapped what the Miami Herald terms the “third rail” of Florida politics, criticizing McCain for supporting a plan to put some Social Security money in private accounts. “When I am president we are not going to gamble with Social Security,” he said. (More Election 2008 stories.)