Obama Adds $60 Billion to Economic Plan; McCain Expected to Unveil Proposals Today

"What America needs in this hour is a fighter, someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people," he said. "I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life."

He added: "There are other ways to love this country, but I've never been the kind to do it from the sidelines."

He also sought to put light between himself and the current occupant of the White House. The next president "will need experience, courage, judgment and a bold plan of action to take this country in a new direction," McCain said. "We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change."

The settings for Monday's events told much about the campaign's state of play. McCain was on the stump in Virginia -- where no Democratic presidential candidate has won since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it in 1964 -- and North Carolina, which has a 24-year streak of supporting Republican White House candidates. Polls show Obama ahead in the Old Dominion and running close in the Tar Heel State.

Obama, meanwhile, continued his habit of conducting his debate preparations in red states. He readied for the first debate in Florida and the second in North Carolina and is now in Ohio -- all states that voted for Bush in 2004.

Staff writers Michael D. Shear, traveling with McCain, and Paul Kane in Washington contributed to this report.