The two presidential nominees, Republican John McCain and Democratic Barack Obama, met for the second debate, a town hall style one, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee - the face off coming at a time when Americans have been expressing a bleak view of the country’s direction. With the stocks tumbling for the second consecutive day Tuesday, indications are that the $700-billion bailout has not eased market concerns about the economy’s health.

While Obama was hoping to solidify his lead, McCain was aiming to turn his fortunes around. As the Wall Street crisis has focused voters’ attention on the economy, Obama has strengthened his advantage in national polls and has gained an edge in crucial battleground states. On the other hand, for McCain the debate offered an opportunity to convince voters that he can lead the nation through the current crisis in the credit, housing and stock markets.

The town hall format allowed voters to ask questions vetted by the moderator, NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who said at one point: “I’m just hired help.”

The stage had no lecterns, and the candidates with wireless microphones in their hands walked around. They approached the audience during the course of answering to questions related to economy, health care, Social Security and the Iraq war.

In response to the first question of the night, McCain said: “I know how to get America working again, restore our economy and take care of working Americans.” Replying to a question about taxes, McCain attacked Obama’s tax proposals and said in an acerbic tone: “Nailing down Senator Obama’s tax proposals is like nailing Jell-O to a wall. He wants to raise taxes.”

To this, Obama shot back: “The Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one. . . . He wants to give the average Fortune 500 CEO an additional $700,000 in tax cuts. That does not work and it isn’t fair.”

Obama pinned the country’s financial problems on “the failed economic policies of the last eight years . . . supported by Senator McCain.”

In a discussion on the military, McCain repeated a phrase he used several times in the first debate that Obama “does not understand” the country’s security challenges. He added: “We don’t have time for on-the-job training, my friend.”

Obama replied: “It’s true there are some things I don’t understand. I don’t understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.”