DETROIT - Alongside his running mate and his wife, Barack Obama addressed some 35,000 at an outdoor rally in Motor City today, focusing his prepared remarks on the economy. Congratulating both Republicans and Democrats for coming together to come up with an economic “rescue plan.”

“It looks like we will pass that plan very soon,” he told the crowd. “But our job is far from over.  Because now that we’re fixing the mess on Wall Street, we need to move with the same sense of urgency to help families on Main Street.

While John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington to help with negotiations, Obama actively worked the phones from the campaign trail, only flying to Washington at the President’s request last week because he didn’t believe infusing the negotiations with presidential politics was helpful.

But that didn’t stop the Democrat from accusing his GOP rival of doing nothing - or worse than nothing - following the crisis. “He doesn’t understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago. That’s why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina-like response. Sort of stood there. Said the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong.’ That’s why he’s been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for photo-ops, trying to figure out what to say and what to do,” Obama said, mocking his opponent’s decision to return to Washington.

Obama intends on campaigning for the next 36 days leading up to the election, but will return to the Senate to vote if necessary. “If we get a consensus and everybody is popping champagne – then I will probably be going back to campaign with folks who are having a tough time in places like Ohio, and Michigan and Pennsylvania. If this ends up being a close vote or a vote where the outcome is an open question then obviously this is a top priority,” he explained to reporters last week.

OXFORD, MS - Following tonight’s first debate of the general election season, staffers, surrogates, and advisors from both campaigns were on hand to talk to members of the media to talk up their candidates’ performance.

It’s commonly referred to as “spin alley” because no matter who you talk to - their side won.

Take, for instance, Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe, who declared victory minutes after the debate’s conclusion.

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Although it’s difficult to cut through all the triumphant chatter, it’s probably fair to say that neither side has to admit defeat. John McCain effectively pushed his experience and his appeal as a low-risk factor, but then Obama held his own against the 26-year Washington veteran who’s known for his depth of knowledge in foreign policy.

To mix sports metaphors - Obama did not fumble, a low bar to be sure, but McCain failed to hit it out of the park.

OXFORD, MS - Barack Obama arrived in Oxford this afternoon, dropped by the site of tonight’s first debate of the general election, and he is currently “hanging out” at the nearby Inn at Ole Miss.

The campaign had scheduled three days of debate preparation in Clearwater, Florida, this week, but because of the economic crisis and calls for the candidate to return to Washington, Obama’s “debate camp” was cut short to just one day.

On his way to Mississippi today, Obama told reporters traveling with him that he was looking forward to tonight’s debate - to which his GOP rival was nearly a no show.

“At this point my strong sense is that the best thing that I can do, rather than to inject presidential politics into some delicate negotiations, is to go down to Mississippi and explain to the American to the American people what is going  on and my vision for leading the country over the next four years,” Obama said.

I caught up with Robert Gibbs for a brief moment inside the press file on the campus of the University of Mississippi and asked him about tonight’s debate and whether or not he thinks Obama got enough prep time to take on John McCain.

Check it out here:

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CLEARWATER, FL - Barack Obama addressed the press corps at the Florida resort where he is conducting debate preparations for a debate that John McCain may not even attend.

“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess,” Obama told reporters. Getting in a dig at his rival for suspending his campaign to focus on the economy, Obama continued, “And I think that it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

According to Team Obama, Republican Senator Tom Coburn suggested to the Democratic nominee that the two campaigns issue a joint statement. After mulling it over, Obama phoned McCain at 8:30 this morning to make the pitch. Sometime between 2:30 and 2:35 - after Obama’s lone rally today - the two senators had a “cordial” five minute conversation where they agreed to a joint statement.

Recounting the conversation, Obama said after the agreement was made, McCain said he’d like to look at potentially suspending the campaigns and postponing the debate. “What I suggested to him was, ‘Well, why don’t we get the joint statement out first and our staffs will discuss this?’  I think the only — the only possible miscommunication might have been how quickly there was announcement and somebody was on television,” he said.

Obama seemed surprised to learn five to ten minutes after their conversation that McCain had announced his decision to suspend his campaign and try to postpone the debate. “I thought this was something that was — that he was mulling over. Apparently, this was something that, you know, he was more decisive about in his own mind,” Obama said.

While McCain heads to Washington, Obama will continue debate preps in Florida, saying he would, if needed, return to the Senate, and that he is “working ’round the clock” on the crisis and talking to leadership and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson every day.

So far, no leadership has asked for the candidate’s presence in Washington, and Obama indicated that bringing to circus to DC might actually hinder negotiations. “I think it’s important, though, is that we don’t suddenly infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics at a time when we’re in the middle of some very delicate and difficult negotiations. So, you know, I think the message is, if you need us, if I can be helpful, I’m prepared to be there at any point,” he explained.

But don’t expect the Obama campaign to forgo the debate - even if McCain does not show up. Said senior strategist Robert Gibbs, “My sense is there’s going to be a stage, an audience, a moderator, and at least one presidential candidate.”

Read the complete transcript of Obama’s media availability below the jump.

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GREEN BAY - With just over 40 days until voters will go to the poll in what will be a history-making election, the jabs and accusations between the two campaigns are coming fast and furious.

John McCain’s campaign released an advertisement today linking Barack Obama with the “Chicago Machine” -   indicted money man Tony Rezko, Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, whose administration is under federal scrutiny, and embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Not surprisingly, the Obama campaign called it a “false, gratuitous attack,” and quickly pivoted to indict John McCain for operating a campaign of, by and for lobbyists.

“He sounds progressive, but he acts like a guy who’s spent three decades of his life in Washington,” Obama said of his opponent at a speech in Green Bay. “He’s put seven of the biggest corporate lobbyists in charge of his campaign … listen to this, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paid John McCain’s current campaign manager nearly $2 million to defend them against stricter regulations.  And rest assured, rest assured that those lobbyists who are working day and night to elect my opponent - they’re not doing it to put themselves out of business,” Obama warned.

During the same speech, Obama pledged as President he would “the revolving door” of lobbyists coming in and out of the White House to use the job “as a stepping stone to further their lobbying careers.”

You won’t get that from John McCain, Obama said. “After 26 years of being part of this Washington culture, all that he has changed is his slogan for the fall campaign. And the people in charge of that campaign prove that if we elect John McCain, it’s not a team of mavericks we’ll be sending to the White House - it’s a team of lobbyists.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - In a McCain advertisement released two days ago, the Republican accused Obama of relying on former Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines for advice on the economy. The Obama camp immediately called the accusation a “flat-out lie” and warned that McCain “shouldn’t be throwing stones from his seven glass houses.”

Today Obama wondered how McCain would prevent lobbyists from getting “past the front gate” of the White House. “Who is going to stop them? Those seven lobbyists that are running his campaign?” he asked. “Or maybe the 26 advisors and fundraisers who lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? I mean, give me a break!” he exclaimed.

Obama explained that he met Raines once and talked to him for “maybe 5 minutes” as opposed to the advisory role the McCain campaign alleges. “The guy actually had to send out a letter saying, ‘Uh, that’s not true. I actually don’t really talk to the guy,’” Obama said, possibly referring to an email Raines sent to McCain advisor Carly Fiorina (read below the jump).

Citing a letter to the New York Times editor written by William Maloni, Fannie Mae’s former head of Government Relations, Obama continued, “The head of the lobbying shop at Fannie Mae turned around and said wait a minute – ‘When I see photographs of Senator McCain’s staff, it looks to me like the team of lobbyists who used to report to me.’ This is what the head of lobbying at Fannie Mae said! Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.”

A quick Google search shows Maloni donated $250 to Obama for America last year.

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ESPANOLA, NM - The Democratic candidate for president dropped by Espanola, New Mexico, Thursday to speak to some 9,500 people gathered in the town’s plaza. Not Barack Obama’s biggest rally, but impressive considering Espanola, according to its website, is home to 10,000.

There Obama continued his now four-day economic assault on John McCain - which is apparently working for the Dem, who is once again ahead in the daily Gallup track.

“I’m always for less regulation,” Obama said, quoting John McCain a few months ago in the Wall Street Journal. “Except now, with the magnitude of the crisis apparent even to the Bush White House, John McCain wants to reverse himself, he wants to reverse course.  Now, all of a sudden, he has become a populist. Now he’s unleashed an angry tirade against all the insiders and lobbyists who happen to have supported him for the last twenty-six years – the same folks who are running his campaign right now,” Obama said.

Obama also accused McCain of flip flopping on his position on what to do with AIG, saying on Monday McCain said the government should “stand aside” and allow AIG to collapse, “but by Wednesday, he changed his mind.”

“John McCain can’t decide whether he’s Barry Goldwater or Dennis Kucinich!” Obama said as the crowd laughed and cheered. He continued, “He’s not clear about what he thinks or what he believes. Well, I have a message for Senator McCain — You can’t just run away from your long-held views or your life-long record.  You can’t erase twenty-six years of support for the very policies and people who helped bring in this disaster with one week of rants. You can’t just erase all that with one week worth of rants!”

Tomorrow, Obama will meet with his top economic advisors in Miami to discuss an economic plan and to call for the passage of a “Homeowner and Financial Support Act” to establish a “stable and permanent solution than the daily improvisations that have characterized policy-making over the last year.”

LAS VEGAS - As the sun set over the home field of the Las Vegas 51s minor league baseball team, Barack Obama stood where home plate would have been to speak to some 14,000 people. “What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas,” he began. “I can’t just go into the - play some slots, ’cause I got these people following me around all the time,” he continued (presumably talking about his traveling entourage that includes staffers, Secret Service, and press). “My wife thinks that’s okay, though,” he joked.

The Democrat - who narrowly lost the Nevada’s caucuses  - quickly got serious. “This has been a difficult day in a difficult week in a difficult year,” he said, noting today’s attack in Yemen, the worsening financial situation, hurricanes, and the Los Angeles train wreck.

“So there have been a lot of storms this week, but obviously the one that’s getting the most attention today is the storm on Wall Street, where we have seen events that show the stakes in this election could not be higher,” he said. “We can’t steer ourselves out of this crisis using the same old map, we can’t steer ourselves out of the crisis if the new driver is getting directions from the old driver and that’s what this election is all about,” he said, unveiling a new line.

Obama the comedian came back for an encore - several times, however - most of which were jabs at McCain wrapped in sometimes stinging humor.

Obama set up his first joke by telling the crowd that McCain recently said he’d take on the “old boys’ network” in Washington. As the crowd jeered, Obama noted, “I’m not making this up!” Continuing to set up the punch line, Obama described McCain as someone who’s been in Washington for 26 years. Someone who employs lobbyists to run his campaign.

“What’s wrong with this picture? The ‘old boys’ network?’ You know, in the McCain campaign, that’s called a staff meeting!”

Ba-dum-dum.

Encouraged by the fits of laughter from the crowd, Obama kept at it, using sarcasm and a comedian’s sense of timing to elicit chuckles - some efforts more successful than others

“Sen. McCain then bragged about how as chairman of the Commerce
 Committee in the Senate, he had oversight of every part of the economy.
 Well, all I can say to Sen. McCain is nice job,” Obama said sarcastically. “Nice job. 
I mean where is he getting these lines? The lobbyists running his
 campaign?” he said.

Not exactly stuff you’d expect from a top rate comedian on the Strip, but not bad for a U.S. Senator.

“You can’t make this up. It’s like a Saturday Night Live routine,” he continued, possibly wondering why he cancelled a cameo on the season opener of the NBC show. “So then yesterday, Sen. McCain’s big solution to 
the crisis we’re facing is, put on your seatbelts, a commission. A commission! Well that’s Washington speak for we’ll get back to you 
later.”

Before you stop reading this post because you don’t think that read very funny - give the guy one more chance.

“John McCain can’t talk enough about how greedy Wall Street is, but he’s not offering a plan to solve it - how he’s going to take on that old boys’ network in Washington. At this rate, by the end of the week, him and Phil Gramm are gonna be on a picket line somewhere, planning to storm the Treasury with torches and pitchforks. Come on!” he joked as the crowd howled.

That was a pretty good one.

PUEBLO, CO - At a rally under the hot late summer sun in Colorado, Barack Obama took advantage of what his campaign is describing as John McCain’s economic backtrack today.

The Republican candidate told voters this morning in Jacksonville that the economy was “fundamentally sound,” a line that has given Barack Obama great mileage over the past several weeks since McCain first used the description to describe a weak economy. Obama has used the line to prove that McCain “doesn’t get it.”

At his second event of the day, McCain explained that what he meant was that “the American worker and their innovation, their entrepreneurship, the small business - those are the fundamentals of America and I think they’re strong.”

Not so fast.

“John McCain’s campaign sent him back out to clean up these remarks because they thought, maybe that’s not going to work out too well. So he explained that what he really meant to say was that American workers are strong. Now come on, Senator McCain! We know what you meant when you said it first time because you’ve said it before. You said it just a few weeks ago!” Obama said incredulously, careful to add that he agreed that American workers “are the backbone of our economy” and that he’s been making that case throughout the course of his 19-month presidential campaign.

“So I congratulate Senator McCain for saying something good about American workers — I think it’s good that Senator McCain is celebrating the American worker today. But it would have been nice if over the last twenty-six years that he’s been in Washington that he actually stood up for them once in a while,” Obama blasted, ticking off McCain’s record of voting against minimum wage, wanting to privatize Social Security, and opposing tax increases for companies sending jobs overseas.

“Senator McCain – you can’t run away from your words and you can’t run away from your record. When it comes to this economy, you’ve stood firmly with George Bush and a failed economic theory, and what you’re offering the American people is more of the same. And that’s why we can’t afford John McCain,” Obama concluded.

While many on the right side of the Republican Party have questioned John McCain’s pro-life commitment — Barack Obama is giving him the benefit of the doubt. At his Farmington Hills, Michigan, town hall, Obama was asked about how the Supreme Court would be affected after the ‘08 election.

“There are some people who focus on what would happen to Roe v Wade,” Obama said in response to the question. “I think it’s fair to say if John McCain wins, that would be overturned. You know during his tenure the Supreme Court, you know, is one vote away from that - I think Roe v Wade is worth preserving,” he continued.

He went on to say that while Roe v. Wade generates a lot of buzz, other issues are at risk under President McCain — not “sexy, high profile issues,” but “bread and butter issues” like Equal Pay, which Obama has said both McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, oppose.

He concluded, “I don’t believe that the courts should spend all their time intervening in our daily affairs, but you know what we do expect, what we should expect from our laws and from our courts is that everybody gets a fair shake and that everybody has access to the courts. That everybody gets their day, and that’s what I’m going to be fighting for when I am President of the United States.”