Obama condemns McCain ‘smear’

The troubled economy was sidelined in the US presidential debate yesterday as both candidates prepared for their second television debate by digging up dirt from each other's past.

At a rally in Albuquerque John Mccain called his Democratic opponent Barack Obama a liar and a dishonourable politician who had shown up "out of nowhere". Calling Obama a "Chicago politician", McCain suggested the Illinois senator was corrupt. "Who is the real Senator Obama?", he asked. "Senator Obama has accused me of opposing regulation. I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed."

In response Obama took time out from rehearsals for tonight's debate to condemn McCain's "smear tactics", saying they sought to distract voters from the economy. Earlier the Obama camp had dredged up a 1989 financial scandal involving McCain, in response to the Republicans' attempt to link Obama to Bill Ayers, a 1960s radical.