Campaign 2008From The Trail
NBC/National Journal embed reporters file regular dispatches on their experiences from the trail.

Previously in this series:
• Sing A New Song (07/01/08)
• United They Stand (06/30/08)

Read The Entire Series

With gasoline prices breaking budgets and the economy in tatters -- some 438,000 jobs lost since December and millions of people in danger of losing their homes -- can Barack Obama and John McCain afford to talk about anything else? Ever?

"That’s the question," acknowledged an Obama aide after the presumptive Democratic nominee drew some raised eyebrows for taking a break from three weeks of discourse on the economy, voters' No. 1 issue, to promote his love of country, his support for faith-based initiatives, care for veterans and community service.

The Illinois senator spent the week leading up to Independence Day with stops in Missouri, Ohio, North Dakota and Montana -- a tour meant to highlight his commitment to campaigning in states Democrats have traditionally passed over. On the stump, it was a week of departures for him. On five of the six days Obama campaigned, he not only sidestepped the economy, he barely uttered the name of his rival for the Oval Office. After weeks in which he blasted McCain daily for his tax proposals and economic plans -- he slammed the Arizona senator about a dozen times the day he launched his economic tour in Flint, Mich., on June 16 -- the absence was noticeable, not least to cable commentators.

On Thursday, the issue made a comeback for Obama -- although it was overshadowed by speculation about whether his statement that he could "refine" his Iraq policy constituted a departure from his stated goal of withdrawing combat troops within 16 months of taking office.

"No issue is more important in this election than the American economy and the common prosperity of the American people," Obama said during a press conference on the tarmac in Fargo, N.D., after the government reported the economy lost 62,000 jobs in June.

He blamed President Bush for the sad state of the world’s biggest economy and linked him to McCain, a favorite Obama line of attack but one that had been largely absent last week.

"No issue demonstrates more clearly why the American people need change, because on issue after issue John McCain has fully embraced the Bush economic agenda," Obama said. "Let me be clear: More of the same from Washington just won’t work. The policies that George Bush has pursued and that John McCain would continue are directly responsible for the pain that folks are feeling out on Main Street, and that’s why Washington has to change."

The senator promised that as president he would "provide working families with a middle-class tax cut; fight for affordable health care and college tuition; work to help raise workers' wages; and invest in infrastructure, education and a clean energy future to create millions of new jobs." He also called on McCain and all members of Congress to come together and support a second, $50 billion stimulus package to help struggling families.

Obama said McCain had announced a "so-called Jobs First plan" in Mexico but added that the Arizona senator had spent the week talking about passing trade agreements that all too often had sent jobs overseas.

This week, Obama will take his renewed economic focus to more red states when he travels to North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. (Despite at least one cable television report that he wants to put "even Texas" in play, an aide said that was definitely not the case.) The senator will spend the week talking about his plans to "strengthen the economic security of families feeling the strain of the faltering economy," according to aides.

A campaign memo sent Friday highlights Obama's return to familiar economic talking points: "The choice in this election is a choice between more of the same policies that have widened inequality, added to our debt, and shaken the foundation of our economy, or change that will reward hard work with a decent living; that will invest in the ingenuity and innovation of our people; that will fuel a bottom-up prosperity to keep America strong and competitive in the 21st century." And on Sunday, the campaign held a conference call to talk about what it said was McCain's plan to "continue Bush's failed economic plans."

Making the case to voters involves a candidate constantly repeating the same arguments and policy prescriptions while differentiating them from the other side's. As Obama returns his attention to the economy full time this week, we should expect to hear much more about McCain -- and much more of the same criticisms Obama was leveling against his opponent last month.