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If there was ever any doubt the economy has moved to center stage in the Presidential campaign, this was the week that dispelled it. Coming on the heels of the Bear Stearns (NYSE:BSC - News) rescue and deepening worries about the state of the housing and financial markets, all three contenders in the race, Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) hit the hustings to give major speeches outlining their views on what needs to be done to revive the economy.

"It's getting to the point where I can't keep up anymore," says Daniel Clifton, head of Washington research for investment firm Strategas Research.

Indeed, in the rhetorical equivalent of one-upsmanship, Clinton gave not one but two major addresses. After a speech she gave on Mar. 24 in Philadelphia on the housing crisis, Obama was in lower New York on Mar. 27, at the Cooper Union, to offer his views on how to improve the broad regulatory structure governing the financial markets and stem the problems in the housing markets. And just a few hours later, Clinton was back again, this time outlining her plan to bolster training and education programs for workers who lose their jobs.