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Obama Says Economic Crisis Is A Good Test For Candidates

(CBS)
From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

(RENO, NEV.) - According to Barack Obama, the financial meltdown has been helpful to his presidential campaign as well as the election.

"Frankly whenever we talk about issues in this campaign, we have the better argument," Obama told CBS News' Chip Reid.

He added, "I mean, there was a time pretty recently when we were talking about lipstick and pigs."

Obama said the heavy focus on the economy has been a good test for both himself and John McCain as to how they would deal with a crisis.

"What I hope I've done is to show some steadiness, some clarity in terms of what I think is important."

He also argued that he's dealt with the crisis without "histrionics or a lot of grandstanding." But when asked if he is suggesting that John McCain has engaged in histrionics, Obama replied, "All I'm saying is that it's amazing what you can get done when you're not worried about getting the credit or being on TV."

Obama predicted that the economic recovery plan will be passed by this weekend.

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