[Sen. Barack Obama takes the stage with Sen. Bill Nelson. Martha Rial | Times]

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At least 13,000 people turned out to see Barack Obama at Ed Smith stadium. The Democratic nominee noted how the GDP has fallen for the first time this year. Obama: "Now, this didn’t happen by accident.  Our falling GDP is a direct result of eight years of the trickle down, Wall Street first/Main Street last policies that have driven our economy into a ditch. And the central question in this election is this: what will our next President do differently?  Well, Florida, if you want to know where Senator McCain will drive this economy, just look in the rearview mirror.  Because when it comes to our economic policies, John McCain has been right next to George Bush. He's been sitting there ready to take over every step of the way."

"In fact, after twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he would differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy....So you’ve got to ask yourself, after nine straight months of job losses and the largest drop in home values on record, with wages lower than they’ve been in a decade, why would we keep on driving down this dead end street?"

McCain-Palin spokesman Tucker Bounds: “If voters looked into Barack Obama’s rearview, they’d see that he supported every one of Washington’s wasteful spending bills and has voted for higher taxes 94 times in just three years.  His economic proposals are driven by job killing tax increases and out-of-control spending -- Barack Obama would drive this sputtering economy off a cliff.  ”

Obama on the McCain-Palin attacks that his tax policies that would raise taxes on families making more than $250,000 a year. "The last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class. Don't be confused by these ads. Ninety eight percent of small businesses make less than a quarter million dollars. And 99.9 percent of plumbers make less than a quarter million dollars a year."

"All boats rise. That's what happened in the 1990s, That's what we need to restore, and that's what I'm going to do as President of the United States of America. John  McCain and Sarah Palin, they called it Socialistic. Now I don't know when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness. The next thing you know they're going to find evidence of my communistic tendencies because I shared my toys when I was in kindergarten. Because I split my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a friend in sixth grade."