Obama, McCain start second round of debate, clashing on economy

U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain clashed on on how to lead the country out of economic downturn in their second round of debate Tuesday night at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

Democrat Obama said the country is in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression as he began his second presidential debate with Sen. John McCain.

He blamed President George W. Bush and McCain, both Republicans, for the crisis, saying they had worked to "strip away regulation."

McCain proposed having the government buy up and renegotiate bad home loans to stabilize the property market.

He admitted the plan would be expensive but said it was necessary.

In response to a question from moderator Tom Brokaw, McCain floated the names of billionaire investor Warren Buffett -- an Obama supporter -- and Meg Whitman, the former eBay executive who is one of his economic advisers.

Obama agreed that "Warren would be a pretty good choice," but declined to go into specifics about who he would nominate.

This is the second debate between the two candiates.

Their first debate took place on Sept. 26 in Oxford, Miss., which Obama won according to polls.

Tuesday's debate is the second in the series of three presidential debates, but the format is different from the other two events.

It is set up like a town hall meeting, and the audience is madeup of uncommitted voters.

据报道，这场辩论采取“市民集会”的形式，即两名候选人坐在台上，回答来自现场摇摆选民的问题和网民的问题。美国广播公司主播汤姆·布罗考（Tom Brokaw）担任现场主持和协调人。

根据辩论程序，布罗考会从现场选民的问题中挑选一些问题来向麦凯恩和奥巴马提问，两名候选人有2分钟时间作答，并有5分钟的相互讨论时间。此外，来自网民的问题约占所有提问的三分之一。在候选人回答问题完毕后，选民和主持人不得再次就该问题追问。

在第二次辩论之前，盖洛普民意测验中心6日公布的民调结果显示，奥巴马的民意支持率为50%，麦凯恩为42%。奥巴马已连续十天领先麦凯恩，创下他在6月初成为民主党准总统候选人以来连续最长时间领先纪录。