Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama called John McCain's response to the economic crisis ``erratic'' and McCain questioned his rival's honesty as the two campaigns crisscrossed Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Democratic presidential nominee said McCain's proposal to have the government buy up mortgages would be a costly burden on taxpayers and reward speculators. The Republican candidate has taken ``a series of shifting positions'' on dealing with the crisis, Obama said.

``In the course of 12 hours he's ended up with a plan that punishes taxpayers, rewards banks and won't solve our housing crisis,'' Obama told a crowd of supporters in Dayton, Ohio. ``I don't think we can afford that kind of erratic and uncertain leadership in these uncertain times.''

Answering questions at a town hall-style event in Wisconsin, McCain said that from Obama's health-care plan to his association with controversial figures to his fundraising, the question for voters is ``whether he's being candid with the American people.''

On a day in which U.S. stocks continued to decline, the two candidates attacked each other over their proposals to deal with the biggest financial markets debacle in decades.

Remains of Debate

McCain, an Arizona senator, and Obama, a senator from Illinois, led off their events with acknowledgements that Americans were facing a crisis and immediately criticized his opponent's answers to it at their debate this week.

``Now, you didn't get a lot of straight answers from Senator Obama a couple of nights ago,'' McCain said in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He accused Obama of being complicit with other Democrats in Congress in protecting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from regulations that would have stemmed the tide of subprime loans.

McCain said Obama's criticism of his $300 billion mortgage- buyout plan shows he has a double standard.

``Senator Obama was happy to bail out Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,'' McCain, 72, said. ``But he's opposed to us helping the homeowner of America.''

McCain confronted an issue raised last weekend by his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She accused Obama of ``palling around with terrorists'' for his association with William Ayers, a University of Illinois professor who is a former member of the Weather Underground radical group.

The anti-Vietnam war group staged a series of bombings of government buildings.

Extent of Relationship

In response to a question from a member of the audience, McCain said America needs to ``know the full extent'' of Obama's relationship with Ayers, though he never used the names of Ayers or his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, also a former Weather Underground member.

``The point is Senator Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We know that's not true,'' McCain said.

In an interview with ABC News broadcast tonight, McCain repeated that the issue is one of honesty rather than ``two washed-up old terrorists that are unrepentant about trying to destroy America.''

``But I do care, and Americans should care, about his relationship with him and whether he's being truthful and candid about it,'' McCain said on ABC.

Obama, 47, served on the board of a Chicago charity with Ayers, 63, and attended a political event at Ayers's house during his first run for the Illinois Senate. He has denounced the Weather Underground's bombing campaign, which his advisers point out took place when Obama was a child.

`Cheap Political Points'

Obama said in a separate ABC interview yesterday that McCain's campaign is trying to score ``cheap political points'' by invoking Ayers.

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said today in a statement that McCain ``would rather launch angry, personal attacks than talk about the economy or defend his risky bailout scheme.''

Obama stepped up his own attacks on McCain, keying off the Arizona senator's mortgage plan, which he said would have the government buying individual mortgages for more than what they're worth.

``It's a plan that would guarantee that American taxpayers lose by handing over $300 billion to underwrite the kind of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street that got us into this mess,'' Obama said in Dayton.

Ohio, with 20 electoral votes, was important to Bush's victory in 2004, though recent polls by CNN-Time magazine, ABC News-Washington Post and the Columbus Dispatch all show Obama with an edge. It has been among the states hardest hit by the economic slowdown in the U.S., with an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.

Obama is planning events there today and tomorrow in an effort to swing the state solidly in his column.

McCain is vying for Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. The state's gone to the Democratic presidential candidate in the last five elections. The CNN-Time poll taken at the start of the month showed Obama with a 5 percentage point lead in Wisconsin and a Rasmussen Reports survey put Obama's margin at 10 points.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Ohio at kjensen@bloomberg.net; Hans Nichols in Wisconsin at hnichols2@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: October 9, 2008 18:57 EDT