Minutes after Republican presidential nominee John McCain finished his town hall meeting in Waukesha, Gov. Jim Doyle offered a counterpunch, speaking just a few miles away to Democratic supporters about the economy and his concerns about the Republican campaign.

Doyle held the meeting at the Obama Campaign for Change office in Waukesha in response to McCain’s statements about the economy made at the presidential debates and at his town hall meeting held earlier that afternoon.

The press conference started with a small business owner from Waukesha, Karen Cameron, whose business is suffering because of her rising health insurance, depleting investments and lack of customers — all due to the financial crisis on Wall Street.

“This is a story shared by millions of people across the United States,” Doyle said. “Small business owners who, for all the reasons Karen laid out, are really struggling to be able to make it.”

Doyle criticized McCain for his consistency in following the ideas and plans set forth by President George W. Bush, citing that McCain now has a greater campaign for helping the rich.

He also said that the only original plan McCain brought about — his mortgage plan — was one that shows a complete misunderstanding of the rescue package, and would give all the money to the banks instead of the people.

“John McCain’s plan calls for a greater portion of the recently passed legislative rescue plan to be designated directly to aid struggling homeowners,” Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said. “By opposing McCain’s effort to help Americans stay in their homes, it’s clear Obama would rather support a bailout of Wall Street than rescue Main Street America. The sole purpose of McCain’s plan is to keep Americans in their homes.”

Doyle also criticized the Republican Party for “putting up smoke screens” to stop people from voting, not focusing enough on the middle class, and for following party lines when it comes to global warming, weapons of mass destruction and the economy.

Kukowski said Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s plan would hurt small businesses.

“Obama’s proposal to lift the earnings cap on payroll taxes would affect nearly 450,000 small businesses in Wisconsin,” Kukowski said.

Doyle praised Obama as “an incredible leader” because of what he called the extreme scrutiny he has gone through.

“In Barack Obama, we have seen calm,” Doyle added. “We have seen intelligence. We have seen the ability to talk to the American people with great respect, to talk about what the issue is and what the challenge is.”