At an early morning rally in North Philadelphia, Democrat Barack Obama appreciated the attempts of his Republican rival, John McCain, to tamp down heated comments from his supporters at a town-hall-style meeting in Minnesota on Friday. Obama was speaking at the first of four ‘mini-rallies’ in the city, before a mostly African-American audience. He spent Friday evening appearing at his two biggest fund-raisers in the city since June, taking in more than $5 million.

In a quick nod of thanks, Obama said: “I want to acknowledge that Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric in his town hall meeting yesterday.”

The rally in the parking lot of Progress Plaza, an inner-city shopping center, had Obama saying McCain deserves Americans’ thanks, especially for his years in the military adding: “Those guys laid down their lives to protect us.” He added: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - Senator McCain has served this country with honor. He deserves our thanks for that.”

However, at the same time, Obama criticized McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, for his comment that the campaign is “not a CNBC news show on the stock market.” Obama added the remarks show that the Arizona senator “doesn’t get it” when it comes to the economic crisis and “what families here in Pennsylvania are going through.”

During a later stop outside the Mayfair Diner, Obama said the McCain campaign would rather attack him than discuss the most important issue of the campaign. He elaborated saying: “So the last few days, we’ve seen a barrage of nasty insinuations and attacks, and I’m sure we’ll see many more over the next 24 days.”

The Obama campaign is touting the end of voter registrations - which showed Democrats with a 1.2 million-voter edge over Republicans - in this battleground state. The four mini-rallies are intended to mobilize those voters.

Image Source: Barack Obama Campaign