The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colorado Springs

The US presidential race was shaping up as a battle over whether a strong character trumps solid policies Saturday as John McCain attacked his Democratic rival as too weak and Barack Obama worked to refocus voters on the issues.

McCain set out on the campaign trail with newly crowned running mate Sarah Palin with a vow to bring reform to Washington and a strong focus on their willingness to buck the party line in order to faithfully serve their country.

Obama argued that the presidency was too important to be a "personality contest" and shot back at McCain for failing to focus on the issue which matters most to voters: how they were going to make ends meet in a troubled economy.

"I think I've got a pretty good personality," Obama said Friday after ridiculing McCain's campaign manager for saying the election was about personality not issues.

"But that's not why I'm running for president. I'm running for president to put people back to work, to give them health care, to make them have college that's affordable."

McCain was attempting to co-opt Obama's mantle of change in a year in which polls show Americans overwhelmingly think their country is heading in the wrong direction.

McCain mounted sharp attacks dismissing Obama as nothing but talk before delivering an acceptance speech that was long on personal history and short on policy proposals.

"This is the ticket to shake up Washington because Senator Obama doesn't have the strength to do it," the decorated war hero told an enthusiastic crowd in Sterling Heights, Michigan Friday night before flying to Colorado for a morning rally.

"If you want real change send the ones who have actually done it. Send a team of mavericks who aren't afraid to go to Washington and break some china."

Palin , who was elected governor of Alaska two years ago after fighting corruption in her own party, took the attack further and claimed that Barack Obama would not protect the United States if he were to win the November 4 election.

She attacked Obama's opposition to sending more troops to Iraq last year and praised McCain's willingness to "put his country first" and support the surge at a time when the war was highly unpopular.