Gramm remark adds to McCain's difficulty addressing the economy -- McCain now has his own "bitter" comment.

From The Washington Post:

McCain was already running into a stiff headwind because of an ailing economy, and his task only became tougher after former senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) suggested that the United States has "become a nation of whiners."

Gramm, who has helped shape McCain's presidential campaign and is a close friend of the candidate, expressed no regret on Thursday for the comments he made in an interview with the Washington Times, saying: "I'm not going to retract any of it. Every word I said was true." But the McCain campaign quickly shifted into damage-control mode, distancing the candidate from his friend's assessment.

Gramm "does not speak for me. I speak for me. I strongly disagree," McCain said during a press availability here, which took place at the same time Gramm was wrapping up a discussion with the Wall Street Journal editorial board about the candidate's economic program.

Since saying last winter that economic policy is not his strong suit -- a comment that won him a pummeling from his primary-election opponents -- McCain has struggled to show voters that he understands their pain as they grapple with six months of steadily declining payrolls, a shaky market on Wall Street, soaring energy and food costs, rising home foreclosures and stagnant economic growth. But his missteps on economic policy still threaten to drown out his message.

McCain was roundly criticized in June for saying that the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. His campaign announced a week-long focus on jobs and the economy while he was in Mexico talking about free trade. On Monday, the senator from Arizona appeared to call the system that has financed Social Security since its inception "a disgrace." And Gramm's "mental recession" comment hung over him all day Thursday in Michigan.

Obama said: "This comes after Senator McCain recently admitted his energy proposal for the gas-tax holiday will have mainly 'psychological benefits.' " He added: "Now I want all of you to know that America already has one Dr. Phil, we don't need another. When it comes to the economy, we need somebody who can actually solve the economy."