Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/candidates-spar-over-economy-as-campaigns-resume Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript After the close of both conventions, GOP Sen. John Mccain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and their Democratic rivals, Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, hit the ground running with campaign stops in key states while exchanging jabs on economic policy. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: Fresh off their national convention, the Republican ticket started their 60-day sprint to Election Day in Cedarburg, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb.Sounding themes already tested in front of convention audiences, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin defended her professional experience and repeated — almost word for word — her attack on Barack Obama.GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), Alaska: Before I was governor, I was mayor of a small town. And since our opponents seem to look down on that experience, I've tried to explain what that job is all about.I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, only you have actual responsibilities.Just last night, Sen. Obama finally broke and brought himself to admit what all the rest of us have known for quite some time, and that's, thanks to the skill and valor of our troops, the surge in Iraq has succeeded.Sen. Obama said that the surge, quote, "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. I think," said Sen. Obama, "that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated."I guess when you turn out to be profoundly wrong on a vital national security issue, maybe it's comforting to pretend that everyone else was wrong, too.