Gov. Linda Lingle says Democrats share a large part of the blame for the country's economic crisis because they controlled Congress for the last two years and because they pushed two government-created agencies to lend to risky borrowers.

Lingle is campaigning this week in the Midwest for Republican presidential contender John McCain. By telephone, she says Democrats in Congress failed to increase regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Asked if any blame should be placed on Republican President Bush, Lingle says there is enough blame for everyone. Republicans led Congress the first six years of Bush's tenure.

The governor was scheduled Thursday night to debate Maryland's Democratic U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin at a synagogue in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.