Gramm steps down from McCain campaign

John McCain's campaign announced tonight that former Senator Phil Gramm has stepped down as co-chairman of his campaign after criticism over remarks he made about the economy.

"It is clear to me that Democrats want to attack me rather than debate Senator McCain on important economic issues facing the country," Gramm said in a statement. "That kind of distraction hurts not only Senator McCain's ability to present concrete programs to deal with the country's problems, it hurts the country. To end this distraction and get on with the real debate, I hereby step down as Co-Chair of the McCain Campaign and join the growing number of rank-and-file McCain supporters."

Gramm had been advising McCain on the economic issues, but his role was curtailed after he said in an interview last week that the nation was filled with "whiners" and that the country was in a "mental recession."

He told the Washington Times that he expected McCain to inherit a sluggish economy if he wins the presidency and that many Americans believe that economic conditions are the worst in decades.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he added. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."

Democrats had tried to tie Gramm to McCain, issuing a video compilation this week of the two former colleagues appearing together and praising each other.

"John McCain's campaign may be scrambling to throw Gramm under the Straight Talk express bus, but they can't change the fact that Phil Gramm, John McCain and George Bush all offer the same failed, out of touch economic agenda that has left America's working families struggling to deal with a real economic crisis," Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said in a release accompanying the video.

"The question for John McCain isn’t whether Phil Gramm will continue as chairman of his campaign, but whether he will continue to keep the economic plan that Gramm authored and that represents a continuation of the polices that have failed American families for the last eight years,” Barack Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.