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GREENSBORO - Populist themes of a fair shake for everyone and the backdrop of downtown's train station may have lent Barack Obama's rain-misted rally here Saturday the air of an old-time campaign whistle stop.

But the Democratic presidential candidate, who spoke along with his vice presidential running mate, Joe Biden, got the strongest reaction from an estimated crowd of 18,000 onlookers by talking about decidedly modern economic problems.

A day after he debated Republican rival John McCain for the first time, Obama emphasized his promises to revive the economy "from the bottom up," saying that vestiges of Noth Carolina's industrial past could be put to work making the country independent from foreign oil.

"That old textile mill suddenly is going to be making a windmill. And that old tobacco farm suddenly is going to be growing switchgrass to make cellulosic ethanol," Obama said. "And that old plant is suddenly going to be making solar panels. We are going to put people back to work, but we've got to have somebody in the White House who understands the future, not the past."

In large measure, the crowd that stood in front of the J. Douglas Galyon Depot and spilled up Washington Street could have heard the same points Obama made Saturday during Friday's debate. And the flagging economy took the lion's share of attention during both events.

Obama said several times that McCain "doesn't get" certain key policy issues, including what is wrong with the American economy. The Democrat elicited sympathetic boos Saturday when he talked about the prospective $700 billion bailout plan for financial institutions and sparked cheers when he talked about safeguards that should be put in place to make sure the federal government is repaid.

"If the American people are being asked to pay for the solution to this crisis - a crisis they didn't cause - then you have the right to make sure your tax dollars are protected," Obama said.

In particular, he said that the treasury should get an ownership stake in the companies aided by the bailout and that CEOs should not be able to take home large severance packages funded by public money.

Republicans used an afternoon conference call with reporters to strike back at Obama, saying the Democrat revealed a penchant for raising taxes during Friday's debate and pooh-poohing proposals Obama aired at the rally, such as the plan to create jobs in areas hit by industrial job losses through investing in alternative energy.

"Let's be very clear what Senator Obama has proposed," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, a senior economic policy adviser to McCain. "Number one, he's proposed another big government spending program. And by putting a green jobs label on it, it doesn't change the basic approach, which is everything runs through Washington and everything involves big government."

Neither the Republican conference call nor Obama at the Greensboro rally explicitly addressed a central question left unanswered from Friday night's debate. Debate moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS asked both candidates how the pending financial bailout would change their plans for tax cuts and new programs during the next administration.

Holtz-Eakin said it was McCain's philosophy of cutting spending that would allow him to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis. He acknowledged that McCain's plans for budget-deficit reduction would be complicated by the bailout.

Obama and Biden outlined their plans for the economy Saturday. They did not indicate where their ambitions might have to be scaled back but did pledge not to raise taxes "on 95 percent of working families."

And the pair targeted McCain for what they see as his own foibles on economic policy.

"Through 90 minutes of debate, John McCain had a lot to say about me, but he didn't have anything to say about you," Obama said. "He didn't even say the words 'middle class.' He didn't even say the words 'working people.'"

Biden warmed up the crowd, hammering McCain on foreign policy.

"He was wrong," Biden said, falling into a back-and-forth with the crowd who yelled back "Wrong!" as the vice presidential contender went through a list of criticisms of McCain.

"He was wrong when he said the only reason we haven't read about Afghanistan is that it's succeeded," Biden said. Democrats have emphasized the increasing bloodshed in Afghanistan and the need to pursue al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden. Republicans have emphasized the need to continue U.S. efforts in Iraq.

Obama's visit to Greensboro the day after the debate emphasized Democrats' contention that North Carolina could fall into their column this year, something that has not happened in a presidential election since 1976.

N.C. Rep. Patrick McHenry , a Republican, chipped away at that contention, saying Greensboro is a Democratic stronghold in the middle of a "red" state.

Guilford County, in fact, did vote for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, one of only a few N.C. counties to do so.

"He's made four visits in the last 30 days, and not surprisingly, he's only made stops in Democrat areas," McHenry said.

While Greensboro was Obama-friendly Saturday, the rally drew people from elsewhere in the state, including Charlotte and Chapel Hill, and from as far away as California.

Both campaigns insisted Saturday that North Carolina would go their way and that they had enough resources here to win.

Republican staffers were asked whether either McCain, who visited North Carolina on one two-day swing this year, or his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, would come to the state before Election Day.

"They can't be in every state," said Buzz Jacobs, McCain's regional campaign manager.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker