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The two U.S. senators running for president accuse each other of lacking solid plans to improve the nation's dicey economy. Ronnie Atkinson agrees with both of them.

"They're all saying the same old stuff -- not solving nothing," said Atkinson, 42, a furniture plant worker in Elliston who said he's undecided on how to vote in the race for the White House.

For Atkinson, like many people, the economy is issue No. 1 in the presidential campaign. The father of six children said his family is strapped for money to afford essentials. "Gasoline, milk and bread are all going way up. What is the president going to do about it?"

The economic priorities of Washington seem far removed from his daily realities. "They're spending billions of dollars to bail out AIG [American International Group]. You think they would do anything like that to help people like me?"

Such views reflect widespread disillusionment about whether either U.S. Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., or John McCain, R-Ariz., will make good on their promises to generate more jobs, rescue the uninsured, slow the wave of home mortgage defaults, reduce taxes and assure affordable energy. The bleak outlook reflects the near-historic low in consumer confidence nationally as measured by the New York-based Conference Board's survey.

To gauge the grass roots hereabout, The Roanoke Times spent Thursday interviewing people at random along U.S. 460 from Bonsack to Blacksburg in their front yards, at work, shopping and fueling their vehicles on or near the 30-mile stretch. All were asked to react to the candidates' public statements -- but only about economic issues. Those interviewed represent a cross section of Southwest Virginia society and culture: young and old, black and white, haves and have-nots.

Optimism about pocketbook issues was rare. Many were undecided on who to vote for, but even those who favored a candidate usually cited reasons other than their potential for positive economic action.

Linda Mollett, a retired laundry worker who lives on Social Security benefits in her mobile home in Shawsville, said she watches several hours of campaign news daily. "They can say anything they want. But whoever gets in the White House needs Congress and the Senate to do anything."

Mollett, a great-grandmother, is leaning toward voting for McCain, but not because she believes he'll do anything to ease the sizable costs of the medications she takes for arthritis among other maladies. "The problems are bigger than any one person. And the federal government is deep in debt anyway. Where would they get the money to help me?"

Gene and Sadie Tolley of Botetourt County are skeptical, too. She's a retired public elementary school teacher; he drove trucks, among other jobs -- but is now slowed by diabetes and a heart condition. More than one-third of their modest fixed income is spent on medications and other health care costs, she said. "They say they'll cut taxes. But some years we don't even have enough money coming to pay taxes," except the local fee on their house, Sadie Tolley said.

If federal taxes are reduced under either candidate, "what's that going to mean to Medicare and other federal benefits?" Tolley wondered.

The bottom line to the Tolleys is that both candidates already have at least one ready excuse for not following through on economic promises: They will turn out to be unaffordable. Said Gene Tolley, "They all tell you what they're going to do, but after they get in there, it's a different story."

The Tolleys said they're undecided on their votes for president. And either way, they said, they won't cast ballots with much enthusiasm.

Whether the candidates have the experience to lead the nation is under discussion, and the Rev. Milton Atkins of Harvest Ministries in Northeast Roanoke frets that neither McCain nor Obama has the right government background.

"With both of the candidates being senators, I'm not sure how much experience they have with the economy," he said.

That's because as legislators, they haven't managed budgets or met payrolls, he reasoned. Atkins has done both successfully through the recent tough times, he said. His church is about to expand to a larger building and there's a "For Sale" sign on the current sanctuary.

Further, Atkins said, the halls of the U.S. Senate are far removed from the needy, many of whom come knocking at the front door of his church. "Somebody asks for help just about every day," he said.

Harvest Ministries allocated a "compassion fund" of $1,000 in July, and by mid-September, it was almost drained. Meanwhile, many in his flock are worried about the stability of their jobs.

Atkins, careful not to preach politics from the pulpit, is torn on how to vote and hasn't yet decided.

John Scyphers, a Salem resident and Verizon retiree, said he doesn't expect either candidate to drive economic changes as the next president. Describing himself as a fundamentalist Christian who has voted both Democratic and Republican in the past, Scyphers spoke while his grandchildren enjoyed the swings in Longwood Park.

"We've got to get control of spending," he said. "I believe in fiscal responsibility. We haven't had that for years, no matter who's in charge." He doesn't expect to decide on his vote until after the presidential debates.

Aleshia Myers, a stylist at First Impressions Hair Designs in Northwest Roanoke, finds Obama appealing. The 32-year-old woman said as president he will "change history." The shop displays stacks of Obama campaign material and none of McCain's.

But she's skeptical of the next president's potential to improve the economy, no matter who's elected. "From all I hear, the government is just about broke after all these big bailouts."

Myers' most urgent economic need is lower gasoline prices, she said. Fuel costs affect her daily, and she isn't much interested in the long-term energy independence policies espoused by Obama and McCain. Neither candidate nor political parties have demonstrated any ability to have an immediate effect at the pump, she reasoned.

And Myers can't vote in the 2008 election anyway. She hasn't yet had her voting rights restored from a conviction on a felony charge a few years ago, she said.

James Graham, sales manager of the Rod Shop, a used-car dealership in Salem, is a Republican who fondly remembers former President Reagan but hasn't been happy with his party lately. Graham laments "buying out all these Wall Street firms."

Graham said he doesn't believe that the federal bailouts of insurance giant AIG or the rescue of mortgage behemoths Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac are fair to taxpayers who must foot the bills. Meanwhile the Rod Shop has been in a business downturn that forced some layoffs. What the candidates and their promises don't seem to address, he said, is that in the trenches of the private sector, "We live and die by our choices."

As for his decision in the presidential race, Graham hasn't made it yet.

Arthur Landrum, who owned a restaurant in Northwest Roanoke, hosted a rally for Obama supporters earlier this year. He said the Democrat's tax policies for the relief of working-class Americans should be a boon to consumers and entrepreneurs.

Landrum couldn't be reached on the day of The Roanoke Times' interviews along U.S. 460, but he said Monday he still plans to vote for Obama.

"We need a change, and that's what he represents," said Landrum, who is black.

Landrum's most recent business in Northwest Roanoke, The Venue Restaurant, closed a few weeks ago. He said business was slow and blamed the downturn in the overall economy, which he hopes an Obama administration can boost.

Business has been off at Judy Garbera's art gallery in downtown Blacksburg, Art Pannonia, for the past six months or so, she said. Even the $150 billion stimulus package -- supported by both McCain and Obama -- that mailed checks to most taxpayers in the spring and summer didn't boost her trade.

Interviewed at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Garbera said she hadn't made a sale all day. The only other economic idea she has for the next president is to reduce income taxes. Of course, she said, if business doesn't pick up, she won't have much income to tax anyway.