| October 7, 2008 Candidates likely to go after each other on character issues in tonight's debate
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(NECN/ABC) - Tonight's debate in Nashville could produce some major fireworks, if the rhetoric is anything like the last few days out on the campaign trail.
"For a guy who's already authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book," said John McCain of Barack Obama.
Falling further behind the polls, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have ratcheted up their attacks on Obama, calling into question the Democrat's character, judgment and honesty.
"Why has Senator Obama refused to disclose the people who are funding his campaign," asked McCain.
Obama's presidential hopes have been bolstered by America's ailing economy. According to most polls, more voters now believe the Democrats could do a better job handling the crisis.
"The notion that we would want to brush that aside and engage in the usual political shenanigans and smear tactics that have come to characterize too many political campaigns I think is not what the American people are looking for," said Obama.
An ABC News analysis of the battleground states found that Obama is currently ahead in all the states that John Kerry won four years ago, along with two states, Iowa and New Mexico, that George Bush captured in the last election. Those states would give Obama 264 electoral votes, just short of the 270 needed for victory.
While John McCain normally excels in the town hall style of tonight's debate, it could be difficult for him to go after Barack Obama. According
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