 John McCain and Barack Obama will answer questions from voters |
The US presidential candidates have begun their second TV debate amid wide public fears over the financial crisis.
The first question focused on the difficulties facing US homeowners.
Democrat Barack Obama said the US faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and that more had to be done to help the middle class.
Mr McCain said that, if elected, he would order the US Treasury Secretary to buy up "bad" mortgage loans, helping to create jobs and revive the economy.
"We are going to have to stabilise home values and that way people can realise the American dream and stay in their home," Mr McCain said.
Mr Obama said the political process in Washington would have to change to prioritise the interests of ordinary Americans and ensure they were able to remain in their homes.
Ahead of the debate, campaigning took on an increasingly bitter tone, with Senator Obama accusing Senator McCain of "smear tactics" and not paying attention enough to the economy.
Mr McCain said Mr Obama was "lying" about his ties to the home loan industry and asked what his rival had ever accomplished in government.
Recent opinion polls have shown Mr Obama taking a widening lead.
'Town Hall' debate
The second presidential debate, taking place less than a month before the 4 November election, has generated intense interest among the public.
 |  Following personal attacks from both sides in recent days, there could be fireworks tonight  |
More than six million people e-mailed questions to the moderator, NBC news presenter Tom Brokaw, who is presiding over the town hall-style debate in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was to select only six or seven e-mailed questions, as well as about a dozen from the studio audience of 80 uncommitted voters. They will cover domestic and foreign policy.
Mr McCain, who was widely viewed to have lost the first debate, has vowed to take the gloves off for this encounter.
The town hall format is his preferred style of campaigning and may work in his favour, analysts say.
Mr Obama, meanwhile, has promised to fight back.
"We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last," he told a syndicated radio show.
Earlier in the day, Mr Obama's senior strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters that Mr McCain had indicated he was "going to be very aggressive in this debate".
A new ad released by the Obama campaign attacks Mr McCain's record on the economy.
"As Americans lose their jobs, homes and savings, it's time for a president who'll change the economy, not change the subject," it says.
Polling numbers
The latest Gallup daily tracking poll puts Mr Obama at 50% and Mr McCain at 42%, while a new CNN poll put Mr Obama ahead by 53% to 45%.
| We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last Barack Obama  |
Mr Obama, the Democratic candidate, is still gaining in some of the key swing states as well. A new Washington Post poll puts him 6% ahead of Mr McCain in Ohio, a state the Republican candidate probably needs to take if he is to win the presidency.
And another poll, by Rasmussen, also puts Mr Obama ahead in Missouri, which had previously been seen as safely Republican.
In recent days both camps have launched fresh assaults on the character of their opponent.
Mr McCain's running mate Sarah Palin posed further questions about Mr Obama's "truthfulness and judgement".
 Both campaigns have ratcheted up the rhetoric with one month to go |
Governor Palin had accused Mr Obama of "palling around" with a "domestic terrorist" - Bill Ayers.
Mr Ayers belonged to the US militant group Weather Underground, which opposed the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
Mr Obama once served on a charity board with Mr Ayers but has denounced his radical past.
In an interview with the New York Times newspaper on Monday, Mrs Palin also suggested that voters should pay more attention to Mr Obama's relationship with his former church pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Mr McCain had previously indicated that he did not want Rev Wright's inflammatory sermons, which Mr Obama has repudiated, to form part of his campaign.
Judgement claim
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has been highlighting Mr McCain's involvement in a financial scandal 20 years ago.
It e-mailed supporters an internet video about Mr McCain's connections to Arizona tycoon Charles Keating, who was convicted of securities fraud after his savings and loan bank collapsed.
Mr McCain was one of five senators - known as the Keating Five - to be investigated by a Senate ethics panel over their intervention with banking regulators on behalf of Keating.
He was found to be less involved with Keating than the other senators but was criticised for "poor judgement".
Mr McCain has himself described the affair as "the worst mistake of my life", and one which led him to sponsor legislation on campaign finance reform.
Watch the second US presidential debate live from Nashville, Tennessee from 0100 GMT, with full analysis, running commentary and voter reaction.
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