Pocketbook policies

Campaign 2008 | Competing economic proposals reveal much about presidential candidates’ values and views on government | Jamie Dean

Second in a series examining presidential candidates' positions on campaign issues

When John McCain squeezed into an upstairs room of the Martin County Courthouse in Inez, Ky., this spring, he won over at least one Democrat in a room packed mostly with Republicans.

Greta Ward, a county magistrate and a long-time Democrat, gushed over the senator after he talked about economic policy in one of the most economically depressed regions in the country. "Oh, I just loved him, he gave all the right answers," said Ward.

Less than two months later, when Barack Obama talked about the economy at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., the senator won over at least one Republican in a crowd of Democrats.