Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, campaigning in Ohio, said small businesses should be able to tap emergency government loans as they struggle to meet payrolls because of the credit crisis.

Obama said his ``small business rescue plan'' can be run through the government's Small Business Administration with its existing powers. He called for the SBA to help companies directly with its disaster loan program and expand loan guarantees to banks that can help the nation's businesses.

``If we're going to rebuild this economy from the bottom up, then it has to start with our small businesses on Main Street,'' Obama told about 5,000 supporters today in the town of Chillicothe in southeastern Ohio. The plans means ``extending our hand to the shops and restaurants, the start-ups, the small firms that create jobs and make our economy grow. Main Street needs relief and you need it right now.''

Republican candidate John McCain, campaigning in La Crosse, Wisconsin, called for a suspension of rules mandating withdrawals from Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k)s at age 70 at a time when stock values are falling.

The two candidates issued their latest prescriptions for the economy as American stocks plummeted once again today. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has dropped for eight straight days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped under 8,000 today after falling below 9,000 yesterday for the first time in five years.

Ohio Economy

Ohio, with 20 electoral votes, is one of the main battlegrounds for Illinois Senator Obama and McCain, an Arizona senator. It also is one of the states hardest hit by the slowing economy with an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.

Even as he warned that the credit crisis could quickly extend to businesses throughout the country, resulting in layoffs and shuttered shops, Obama called on supporters not to panic. He quoted former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in the middle of the Great Depression and is famous for saying, ``the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.''

Obama, 47, told the crowd in Ohio that history will judge the actions of Americans at this time and asked them to rise up as people have done in ``times of trial and turmoil'' throughout U.S. history.

``I want you to believe in the future we can build together,'' he said. ``Together we can't fail. Not now. Not when we have a crisis to solve and an economy to save.''

McCain, 72, has embraced his ``underdog'' status in recent days, promising that ``we're going to come from behind like we have every time in the past.''

Citing unnamed ``pundits'' who have ``written off the McCain campaign,'' he told the morning crowd in Wisconsin that ``we're going to fool them again.''

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

Last Updated: October 10, 2008 12:17 EDT