Click here to watch "A Stronger Economy."

As part of his recently announced campaign suspension, John McCain is pulling all of his TV ads off-air. But, as when he dismissed McCain's request to postpone Friday's debate, Barack Obama is again refusing to follow his rival's lead. The Illinois senator is not only leaving his ads up; he released a new 60-second spot this morning -- the second ad in as many weeks in which Obama speaks directly to viewers about what he would do as president to help set the economy back on the right track.

In "A Stronger Economy" (subscription), Obama begins by criticizing the deregulatory policies that he says led to the crisis. "Instead of prosperity trickling down," as the administration has been promising for the last eight years, he says, "pain has trickled up." He maintains: "We need to change direction. Now." Obama then outlines the main points of his policy prescription, vowing to put middle-class families ahead of Wall Street CEO's.

While polls have shown mixed assessments of Obama's ability to handle the economy relative to McCain's, his steady rise in head-to-head numbers over the past two weeks -- while the economy has been in the national spotlight -- is undeniable.