John McCain's problem isn't the economy -- it's what happens when he talks about it.

Voters have the most confidence in McCain's ability to handle the economy when he avoids the issue, polls from the last three weeks suggest. His two biggest responses to the crisis -- the Sept. 24 suspension of his campaign and his proposal during Tuesday's debate that the government buy billions in failing mortgages -- rattled voter confidence in his economic leadership.

In the run-up to the Oct. 7 debate, McCain shifted his message away from the economy and to Barack Obama's connection to '60s radical William Ayers. Not talking about the crisis worked: McCain closed the voter confidence gap on the economy and essentially ran even with Obama for the three days before the debate, according to the Diageo/Hotline daily tracker poll [PDF]. But during the debate, McCain proposed buying up $300 billion worth of mortgages, and he expanded on his plan in stump speeches in the days that followed. McCain's plan got negative reviews, and he gave up his gains -- Obama has opened up a 6-point lead on the question of economic stewardship in Diageo/Hotline polling [PDF] conducted Wednesday and Thursday.

The Arizona senator's previous gambit -- the suspension of his campaign during congressional bailout negotiations -- similarly soured otherwise strong economic numbers. Before announcing that he would return to Washington, McCain had been holding his own with the Democrat on the question of who voters thought could best handle the economy, trailing Obama by low single-digit figures [PDF]. But most voters balked at McCain's maneuver, and Obama briefly broke open a double-digit lead [PDF] on economic stewardship.

All of this suggests that voters give McCain low marks on the economy not because he is a Republican -- the GOP brand is low across the board -- but because they don't like what he is proposing. Yet McCain can still take heart for two reasons. First, the electorate has been forgiving of his missteps, as his numbers on economic trust continue to bounce back. Second, voters seem to be willing to spare him from the brunt of their antipathy toward the GOP. If McCain can either start hitting the right notes on the economy or shift the conversation to new issues, he could -- again -- neutralize Obama's advantage.