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Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden used three public appearances in North Carolina on Thursday to slam Republican economic policies, saying the proposals of GOP nominee John McCain would deepen problems that have roiled financial, housing and credit markets.

Speaking to a crowd of students and others as the temperatures dropped Thursday, Biden called for middle-class tax cuts and criticized McCain for favoring policies similar to those of President Bush, whose popularity rating is at historic lows.

“There is not one fundamental economic issue over the past eight years over which John McCain has challenged George Bush,” Biden said.

Recent job loses and rising mortgage foreclosures argued for a change in leadership, Biden said, adding that Democratic nominee Barack Obama would provide the “steady hand” that the economy needed.

“In this election, everyone is asking the same questions. I have never seen so many people unnerved about where they are,” Biden said. “The middle class is in real trouble.”

With less than two weeks before the election, North Carolina finds itself at the center of the presidential race. The leading figures for both the McCain and Obama campaigns have made frequent trips here and both sides have put campaign commercials on the air here. McCain is scheduled to campaign again in the state next week.

“Right now, our campaigns are trading paint,” Biden said giving a nod to North Carolina’s status as a NASCAR capital. It also may have been a nod to a recent national Zogby poll showing Obama and McCain tied among its fans.

As Biden traveled the state, Republicans pushed back against his attacks and used the occasion to criticize the Democrats’ tax proposals, which they say would overtax small businesses and individuals and discourage economic recovery. All week, they have been staging news conferences with “Joe the Plumbers” across the state — featuring small-business owners and named for the Ohio worker who questioned Obama during a campaign stop.

Those events have likened the Democrats’ policies to socialism.

That message was driven home again Thursday afternoon by former House Majority Leader Dick Army of Texas, who stopped in Raleigh just before Biden’s event. Army helps lead the FreedomWorks, a nonprofit that advocates for lower taxes and less regulation.

He said that Obama advocated “a philosophy of big government control, regulation and income redistribution.”

Both Obama and Biden argue that lax regulation is at the heart of the troubles in the financial markets that precipitated a freeze on credit and has decimated many retirement accounts.

Army argued that it was rather the failure of the two government-sponsored mortgage entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and Congress’ failure to regulate the pair that caused the problems.

“The big government types are saying this proves that markets don’t work, and that’s just not true,” Army said.

But Biden provoked a strong reaction when he criticized the actions of Wall Street CEOs and called for a federal law that would temporarily halt mortgage foreclosures.

Biden also took issue with the McCain-Palin campaign’s ads targeting Obama in the state. Republicans have launched a series of automated phone calls, attack ads and direct mail pieces in recent weeks that knock both Obama’s policies and his background.

“They lie about Barack Obama and they question his character,” Biden said. “(It’s) an attempt to divide the country and distract you from what really matters.”

Obama could stand up to the attacks, Biden said, but “we cannot take four more years of these divisive politics.”

One mailer sent by North Carolina Republicans last week links Obama to William Ayers, who once lead the radical group Weather Underground in the 1960s.

The flier describes Ayers as a terrorist and says that Obama and he are close friends. The Democratic candidate, the flier says, is “not who you think he is.”

Obama has sought to distance himself from Ayers and says their connection is not close. And the campaign has reacted strongly to Republican assertions, based on the connection, that the Democrat “pals around with terrorists.”

“We still continue to stand by the truth of the ad, which has never been questioned,” said Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the state Republican Party.

He said it was perfectly appropriate to raise questions about Obama’s judgment.

“We’re talking about someone who wants to be president of the United States. This is a person who is going to appoint officials to the various executive branch agencies, who likely will nominate one or more Supreme Court justices,” Woodcox said. “The next president needs to be an excellent judge of character.”

Biden said in his speech that McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were “good people,” but mocked a joint interview they recently conducted.

“They look at each other and go 'Maverick,’ 'Maverick,’ 'Maverick,’” Biden said getting laughs and preparing to drive home the Bush connection one last time. “You can’t call yourself a maverick when all you’ve been over the past eight years is a sidekick.”

Early voting is under way in North Carolina. Election Day is Nov. 4.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com