Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden has canceled his campaign appearances Monday and Tuesday after the death of his mother-in-law Sunday.

Biden spokesman David Wade said Bonny Jean Jacobs, the mother of Biden’s wife, Jill, died Sunday after a long illness.

Jacobs was 78 and lived in Willow Grove, Pa. Wade described her as a “homemaker and avid gardener with a lifelong love of reading.”

“We appreciate everyone’s respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time,” Wade said.

The Republican National Committee plans to file a fundraising complaint against Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign Monday, alleging it has accepted donations that exceed federal limits as well as illegal contributions from foreigners.

RNC officials acknowledged Sunday that they do not have a list of foreign donors to Obama’s campaign. Instead, the complaint is based largely on media reports, including one from the conservative Web site Newsmax.

The complaint asks the Federal Elections Commission to audit Obama’s campaign fund, RNC chief counsel Sean Cairncross said in a conference call with reporters.

Cairncross said little is known about many of Obama’s donors because the campaign is not required to disclose detailed information about people who give less than $200.

The Obama campaign, which is not accepting public funds, has raised more than $468 million. About half has come from small donors, a point of pride for the Obama campaign.

The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrat Barack Obama, reacting to Republican charges about his links to a 1960s radical, fired back late Sunday with a Web video about John McCain’s role in the Keating Five scandal from the early 1990s.

The short video, being e-mailed to millions of Obama supporters, summarizes a 13-minute Web “documentary” that the campaign plans to distribute Monday, spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said McCain’s involvement with convicted thrift owner Charles Keating “is a window into McCain’s economic past, present and future.”

The video release capped a day of complaints and warnings from Obama supporters. They said McCain was inviting a harsh examination of his past by having his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, repeatedly criticize Obama’s association with Bill Ayers, a founder of the Vietnam-era radical group, the Weather Underground.

Palin said Obama sees America as so imperfect “that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.” She was referring to Ayers, whose strongest tie to Obama appears to be a 1995 meet-the-candidate event he hosted early in Obama’s political career.

Weather Underground members were blamed for several bombings when Obama was a child. Obama has denounced Ayers’ radical views and activities.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Democrat and Obama supporter, warned against McCain’s strategy on CNN’s “Late Edition” Sunday.

“If we are going to go down this road - you know, Barack Obama was eight years old, somehow responsible for Bill Ayers,” he said. “At 58, John McCain was associating with Charles Keating.”

“If we really want to talk who is associating with who, we will,” Emanuel said. “The American people will lose in that transaction.”

A short time later, speaking to thousands of people in Asheville, N.C., Obama said McCain and his aides “are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They’d rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. It’s what you do when you’re out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time.”

Noting the nation’s serious economic problems, Obama said: “Yet instead of addressing these crises, Senator McCain’s campaign has announced that they plan to turn the page on the discussion about our economy and spend the final weeks of this campaign launching Swiftboat-style attacks on me.”

Just months into his Senate career, in the late 1980s, McCain made what he has called “the worst mistake of my life.” He participated in two meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Keating, a friend, campaign contributor and S&L financier who was later convicted of securities fraud.

The Senate ethics committee investigated five senators’ relationships with Keating. It cited McCain for a lesser role than the others, but faulted his “poor judgment.”

Also Sunday, Obama unveiled a TV ad on the economy that says McCain was “erratic in a crisis.” Some see that as a reminder of McCain’s age, 72.

The day’s events seemed to point to rising rhetorical heat in the campaign’s final month. McCain adviser Greg Strimple recently predicted “a very aggressive last 30 days” of the campaign.

“We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama’s aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for Americans,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

Barack Obama’s campaign is reaching out to iPhone users through a new application that will make it easier for them to call their friends in battleground states and encourage them to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The application’s “Call Friends” function organizes the user’s personal phonebook by swing state, such as Virginia or Colorado. It gives each contact a status, telling the caller whom he or she has dialed.

The campaign launched the application Thursday. It said no contact information will be stored as a result of using the feature. “Only the total number of calls you make is uploaded anonymously,” says the feature’s description.

People can compare their number of calls with others who are contacting their friends.

By touching the phone’s screen, users also can find out Obama’s position on issues such as education, foreign policy and defense. They can watch videos, donate money, receive updates and check out local events.

Republican John McCain’s campaign did not immediately respond to a telephone call and e-mail request seeking information about whether his campaign also had similar outreach efforts.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that his rival John McCain is out of touch with the economic struggles of Americans and doesn’t understand that there’s nothing more fundamental than a job.

Obama hammered McCain’s economic record during two rallies in Michigan, a state struggling with the country’s highest unemployment rate. The Illinois senator’s second appearance, at Michigan State University, came just as knowledgeable Republican officials said McCain’s campaign has given up trying to win Michigan and is shifting resources from there to other states.

At the university and an earlier rally in Grand Rapids, Obama said the government’s jobs report due Friday is expected to show a ninth straight month of decline.

“Nine straight months of job loss,” Obama said. “Yet, just the other week, John McCain said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Well, I don’t know what yardstick Sen. McCain uses, but where I come from, there’s nothing more fundamental than a job.”

At a town hall meeting in Denver, McCain told several hundred women voters that on the issue of jobs there are stark differences between the tickets.

“This is about the Obama-Biden team that will kill jobs with higher taxes, and the McCain-Palin team that’s going to cut the second-highest business tax in the world and create more jobs,” he said.

Obama has concentrated on winning Michigan, which Democrat John Kerry won in 2004 but that McCain made a target this year. Amid signs Obama is pulling ahead here, the GOP officials said the Arizona senator canceled a trip to the state next week, won’t run ads on TV after this week and is dispatching staffers to states that show him in stronger position.

McCain’s campaign later confirmed it was pulling staff and advertising out of the state.

The Republican National Committee also just went on TV in Michigan, but there appears to be no plans for that buy to continue either, according to these Republican officials, who requested anonymity to avoid offending McCain’s campaign.

A reporter asked Obama for a response to McCain’s decision as he exited the stage at Michigan State, but Obama ignored the question. If he knew about McCain’s plans, he didn’t mention it during the rally and continued to attack McCain’s economic policies as just a continuation of the Bush administration philosophy.

“My opponents’ philosophy isn’t just wrongheaded, it reveals how out of touch he really is,” Obama said.

The country’s financial woes appear to be benefiting Obama’s campaign. Increasing numbers of voters say Obama is better suited to lead through the crisis, giving him a 48-41 percent lead over McCain in an Associated Press-GfK out this week.

The race’s changing dynamics also appear to be giving Obama’s supporters confidence. He drew a large crowd at both stops, despite overcast skies and temperatures in the 40s.

At one point in Grand Rapids, Obama said: “If I’m president,” and the crowd cut him off with shouts of “When! When!”

Obama said: “I’m superstitious, folks,” and continued talking about what he would do “if” he wins the election.

Obama’s wife, Michelle, campaigned across the state in Saginaw and Clinton Township. Obama was sending other high-profile advocates to campaign in the state on his behalf, including primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton last weekend and performers Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen in the coming days.

The Republican presidential candidate who took the economic bailout so seriously that he suspended many campaign activities last week stayed quiet in the Senate when it came time to vote on it.

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, his Democratic rival, both left the campaign trail Wednesday and returned to Washington to vote on the historic $700 billion bailout. Both voted for the bill.

Obama used the opportunity before his colleagues and TV cameras to lay out his rationale and explain his economic vision.

“This will not solve all our problems,” Obama said on the Senate floor, as his Democratic colleagues streamed in to listen. “This is what we need to do right now, to prevent the possibility of a crisis turning into a catastrophe.”

McCain did not speak about the measure from the chamber. Before the roll was called, the Arizona senator dined in Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s office with other GOP senators.

“He was working hard with his colleagues to ensure that this package moved forward,” said Mark Buse, McCain’s Senate chief of staff. “He didn’t see the need to speak on the bill.”

Both senators voted for the bill, which passed 74-25. It now goes to the House, which is expected to vote on Friday.

McCain discussed the measure earlier in the day in Missouri, but his decision not to speak about it in the Senate stood out because he had cited the seriousness of the issue when he took the dramatic step a week earlier of suspending his campaign and suggesting what became a bipartisan White House meeting on the crisis.

McCain is action-oriented by nature and usually is a ready Republican participant in trying to work out compromises on major pieces of stalled legislation. But he has struggled to strike the right balance between being involved in the crisis without appearing to exploit the situation for political purposes. Democrats accused him of politicizing the crisis when he rushed back to Washington last week to help.

The Republican let his words speak for him earlier Wednesday at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Mo. “If we fail to act, the gears of our economy will grind to a halt,” he said in a speech.

It’s been rough going for the bailout package and it was hoped that the rare appearances by Sens. Obama and McCain would help propel it to passage. The candidates in turn were seeking political advantage by addressing the top issue on voters’ minds.

In reality, the candidates have had little to do with drafting the bill’s various versions. And their influence over their Senate counterparts was unclear.

The House on Monday rejected an earlier version, a move that sent the stock market into a 778-point dive.

Wednesday it was the Senate’s turn. In rare agreement, leaders of both parties presented a rewrite with a variety of sweeteners for lawmakers reluctant to vote ‘yes’ a little more than a month before Election Day.

Obama urged any lawmakers on the fence to “step up to the plate.”

“Let’s do what’s right for the country at this time, because the time to act is now,” he said on the Senate floor.

Lawmakers of both parties said Wednesday the changes made the bill more palatable. McCain, in Missouri, said he was pleased that the bill includes taxpayer protections, limitations on executive compensation and sufficient protections for people’s bank accounts.

They include an increase in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protection for bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000. Both McCain and Obama had endorsed the hike in deposit insurance.

Barack Obama’s campaign said Monday that rival John McCain’s “angry and hyper-partisan†attempt to blame the Democrats and their presidential nominee for the failed financial bailout vote is “exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington.â€Â 
McCain’s campaign said, after the $700 billion plan was voted down in the House, that Obama had failed to lead on the issue and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) remarks before the vote were the reason the plan went down in flames.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said that, at a time of “national crisis,” bipartisanship is needed, and McCain is only encouraging the divide.

“Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe,” Burton said in a statement. “Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point, but now that we are here, the stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis.”

While McCain and Obama traded barbs, President Bush said he was “disappointed” that the plan had failed. But the president added that he would continue to reach out to members “on the way forward.”

Bush said he would be meeting with his economic advisers again Monday afternoon.

“Our strategy is to continue to address this economic situation head on,” the president said. “And we’ll be working to develop a strategy that will enable us to continue to move forward.”

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday the government should raise the federal deposit insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000 as part of a renewed approach to shoring up the U.S. economy.

Avoiding the term “bailout,” the presidential candidates said in separate statements that Congress must make another attempt to pass an economic rescue plan. The House on Monday balked at approving the Bush administration’s $700 billion proposal, its 228-205 vote sparking the largest sell-off on Wall Street since the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The plan had the bipartisan support of congressional leaders, but about two-thirds of Republicans and about one-third of Democrats in the House voted against it. Polls showed widespread public disapproval for the plan.

“We haven’t convinced people that this is a rescue effort, not just for Wall Street but for Main Street America, for working families, for small businesses, the heartland of America - all over America,” McCain said on “American Morning” on CNN. “We didn’t do a good enough job.”

McCain said he recommended to President Bush on Tuesday morning that the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund of $250 billion be used to shore up institutions, that the limit on federally insured deposits be raised to $250,000 and that the Treasury exercise its ability to buy up $1 trillion in mortgages.

“By the way, the first thing I’d do is say, ‘Let’s not call it a bailout. Let’s call it a rescue.’ Because it is a rescue. It’s a rescue of Main Street America,” McCain said.

In a statement earlier Tuesday, Obama said Congress should not start over as lawmakers consider their next move in the wake of the House’s rejection of what he called “the economic rescue plan.”

“Given the progress we have made, I believe we are unlikely to succeed if we start from scratch or reopen negotiations about the core elements of the agreement. But in order to pass this plan, we must do more,” he said.

Obama said the current federal guarantee of up to $100,000 in bank deposit insurance, a limit set nearly 30 years ago, is adequate for most families but insufficient for many small businesses. Raising the limit to $250,000 “would boost small businesses, make our banking system more secure and help restore public confidence in our financial system,” he said.

Obama said jobs, retirement savings and economic security for all Americans hang in the balance as Congress considers what to do next.

“While I, like others, am outraged that the reign of irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has created the current crisis, I also know that continued inaction in the face of the gathering storm in our financial markets would be catastrophic for our economy and our families,” he said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an independent federal agency created in 1933, insures deposits in banks and thrift institutions for at least $100,000. Premiums paid by member institutions and investment earnings in Treasury securities fund the agency, which has an insurance fund of more than $49 billion, according to its Web site.

The FDIC says it insures more than $3 trillion in deposits and already provides up to $250,000 in insurance for retirement accounts such as individual retirement accounts and Keoghs. A five-person bipartisan board of directors appointed by the president manages the agency.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on Saturday accused rival John McCain of seeking a photo-op on the Wall Street bailout, not help for the middle class. 
“You see, I think Sen. McCain just doesn’t get it – he doesn’t get that this crisis on Wall Street hit Main Street a long time ago,†Sen. Obama (Ill.) said in a speech in North Carolina.
“That’s why he’s been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for a photo-op, and trying to figure out what to say and what to do,†Obama added.

McCain’s campaign strongly rejected the attack.

“While Barack Obama is desperately trying to redo the debate’s ‘spin-alley’ from the stump, John McCain is working to address a looming economic crisis,†said Sen. McCain’s (Ariz.) spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Frankly, it’s easy to see that Barack Obama is more focused on getting himself to Pennsylvania Avenue rather than getting relief to Americans on Main Street.â€

In his first speech since Friday night’s debate on foreign policy and the economy, Obama sought to drive home the point that McCain would continue the policies of President Bush and ignore the problems of ordinary Americans.

“We talked about the economy for forty minutes, and not once did Senator McCain talk about the struggles that middle class families are facing every day right here in North Carolina and around the country,†Obama said.

“The truth is, through ninety minutes of debating, John McCain had a lot to say about me, but he had nothing to say about you,†the Democrat added. “He didn’t even say the words ‘middle class.’ Not once.â€

Following the debate, McCain informed supporters in an e-mail that he would head back to Washington, where congressional leaders and the administration are working to find a compromise on a $700 billion Wall Street bailout package.

“All voices must be represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners,†McCain stated. “We cannot be interested in who would get credit for finding a solution and who would be blamed if an agreement cannot be reached. We must put our country first to solve this economic crisis. Because in the end, that’s what leaders do in times of crisis.â€

The economic crisis and raw politics threatened to derail the first presidential debate as John McCain challenged Barack Obama to delay Friday’s event to work on the financial crisis. Obama rebuffed the plea, saying presidents need to “deal with more than one thing at once.”

The White House rivals maneuvered Wednesday to claim the leadership role in resolving the economic turmoil that has overshadowed their campaign. Obama said he would continue preparing for the debate and consulting with bailout negotiators and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. McCain said he would stop all campaigning and return to Washington on Thursday to work toward a bipartisan solution.

“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 said in Clearwater, Fla. “It’s going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

But McCain said they must focus on a bipartisan solution as the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout proposal seemed headed for defeat. If not, McCain said ominously that credit will dry up, jeopardizing home sales, individual savings and company payrolls.

“I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time,” McCain said.

Both candidates accepted President Bush’s invitation to attend a White House meeting Thursday afternoon with congressional leaders in hopes of agreeing on a rescue plan. McCain had spoken with Bush earlier Wednesday and requested such a meeting.

In a joint statement Wednesday night, the candidates said the country faces “a moment of economic crisis” and they called for political unity to solve it because “the jobs, savings and the prosperity of the American people are at stake.” Both said Bush’s plan was “flawed.”

“We cannot risk an economic catastrophe,” they said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., McCain’s representative in debate negotiations, told The Associated Press that McCain will not attend the debate unless there is agreement on a solution that is publicly endorsed by Obama, McCain, the White House and congressional leaders.

Asked whether the debate could go on, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said: “My sense is there’s going to be a stage, a moderator, an audience and at least one presidential candidate.”

The jockeying between McCain and Obama began after the senators spoke privately Wednesday.

McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement. The surprise announcement was an attempt to outmaneuver Obama on an issue McCain trails on and as the Democrat gains in the polls. McCain went before TV cameras minutes after they spoke and before the campaigns could hammer out the agreed-upon joint statement.

Obama, too, made a political calculation by rejecting McCain’s challenge while still trying to appear on top of the problem. Obama repeatedly stressed that he called McCain first to propose a joint statement. He said McCain called back several hours later and agreed, but also said he wanted to postpone the debate and hold joint meetings in Washington. Obama said he suggested they first issue the statement.

“When I got back to the hotel, he had gone on television to announce what he was going to do,” Obama said.

McCain said he would return to Washington on Thursday after an address to former President Clinton’s Global Initiative session. He canceled a scheduled appearance on CBS’ “The Late Show with David Letterman” and a meeting with India’s prime minister.

McCain called Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to propose that joint meetings with Obama and congressional leaders be held quickly, according to leadership aides. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Reid responded by reading McCain his public statement, in which Reid said it would not be helpful for the candidates to come back and inject presidential politics into the negotiations.

Reid later told reporters that McCain “is trying to divert attention from his failing campaign.”

Debate planners said they were continuing to prepare for the event at the University of Mississippi.

McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, was canceling her limited campaign events. She told the “CBS Evening News” that the country could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn’t reach a solution.

How long the suspension would last, McCain adviser Steve Schmidt would not say.

McCain has struggled with how to handle the situation, which he might escape with modest political damage if he and Obama can reach some type of accord on the matter.

Scores of congressional Republicans hinted this week that they may oppose the $700 billion proposal, and Reid pointedly suggested that Democrats could not be expected to back it if McCain did not publicly do so.

That leaves McCain with two unpalatable choices. He can oppose a major Republican initiative the administration says is needed to prevent a full-blown recession, and risk blame if the prediction comes true. Or he can vote for an extraordinarily costly bailout, which many Americans seem to resent, just when polls show him falling farther behind Obama.

Obama also risks voter wrath if he supports the bailout. But he could frame his stand as bipartisan statesmanship, whereas McCain’s vote could be spun as another example of him siding with Bush, a major impediment to his campaign.