Calling this the "biggest financial crisis of our lifetime," Republican presidential candidate John McCain today urged action to restore confidence in the system, one day after Congress defeated a $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan on a 228-205 vote.

"Inaction is not an option," McCain said repeatedly to more than 300 Iowa business executives, workers and Republican leaders who gathered at EFCO in Des Moines for a roundtable discussion. "The dire consequences of inaction are far more damaging to the economic security of American families."

McCain surrounded himself with six Iowa business executives who helped tell the story of how the nation's economic crisis is impacting their companies.

Their stories helped to back up McCain's assertion that there are franchisees who currently can't borrow, contractors not getting remodeling work, equipment makers losing sales, restaurants going out of business and students unable to get loans.

"One of the reasons why Congress failed to act is because it hasn't really sunk in that the people who are hurting and are being hurt are Main Street families, small businesses – those kinds of people that are the engine of our economy," McCain said. "There is a perception out there that this is just something for Wall Street."

• See photos from McCain's visit
• Audio of McCain's prepared comments on the economic crisis
• Audio of McCain and Anderson Erickson Dairy CEO Miriam Erickson Brown
• Audio of McCain and Hy-Vee chairman and CEO Richard "Ric" Jurgens. Also includes McCain's comments on ethanol and an exchange between McCain and Aviva North America chief executive Tom Godlasky.
• Audio of Principal CEO Larry Zimpleman and McCain
• Audio of Casey's General Store founder Don Lamberti, McCain and EFCO President and CEO Albert Jennings
• Audio of McCain's closing comments

Labels: audio, John McCain, photos

Republican John McCain's continued and adamant opposition to ethanol subsidies -- a position he repeated during Friday's presidential debate -- is only one of the things that gives him a black mark in Iowa, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver said today.

"His record in Iowa is very poor," Culver said today of McCain. "He's against biofuels of every kind, he's against renewable energy tax credits, he's voted 23 times against renewable energy and he voted against Tom Harkin's farm bill."

McCain arrived in Des Moines today but has no public appearances planned until tomorrow.

"I don't expect the farmers and rural Iowa in particular are going to forgive him for those bad votes," Culver said. "I think he has a lot of explaining to do about that very poor record for Iowa."

Wendy Riemann, an Iowa spokeswoman for McCain, said Iowans are intelligent voters who are looking at more than one issue as they cast their ballot.

"John McCain supports being energy independent and advocates the use of alternative forms of energy, including ethanol, competing in the free market. He believes that the government must be an ally but not an arbiter in the progress of alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, tide and hydroelectric," Riemann said. "John McCain is a strong supporter of alternative forms of energy and he believes the best way to maximize these contributions is through competitive markets."

As for the farm bill, Riemann said: "The farm bill was laced with pork, handouts to corporate farmers and was an obstacle to freer agricultural trade worldwide. John McCain is interested in helping Iowa farmers and in opening the markets to American agriculture."

• Listen to Culver respond to reporters' questions about the presidential election, disaster assistance and the economy

Labels: audio, Chet Culver, John McCain

Arizona Sen. John McCain is defending his decision to skip the August GOP straw poll, vowing to compete in the January caucuses.

McCain was asked Friday about his the mid-week campaign announcement that he'd be skipping the Republican Party of Iowa's Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames.

The Republican presidential candidate, at a campaign picnic in Centennial Park, called the August event "not meaningful" or a "viable procedure."

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Labels: audio, John McCain

• Listen to audio of the event
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• Listen to McCain in Des Moines.
• Read IowaPolitics.com coverage of McCain's visit

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Nine Republican presidential candidates addressed this year's Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser in Des Moines on April 14.

Each candidate was given 10 minutes to address the crowd, which numbered more than 1,000.

Those attending and speaking were: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and businessman John Cox. California Congressman Duncan Hunter had to cancel his appearance after airplane trouble.

• New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
• Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
• Illinois businessman John Cox
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
• Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo
• Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore
• Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback
• Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson
• Arizona Sen. John McCain
• Read IowaPolitics.com coverage

Labels: Des Moines, Jim Gilmore, John Cox, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, RPI, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson