Gov. Linda Lingle, on the campaign trail for John McCain and Sarah Palin, on Wednesday blamed Democrats for a large part of the recession, claiming they did not avert the financial meltdown and pushed two government-created agencies to lend to risky borrowers.

Democrats led "both houses of Congress, which means they've controlled both committees that would oversee any regulation of the financial institutions," Lingle said in a telephone interview from Cleveland, Ohio.

"They had two years if they believed there needed to be additional regulation," she added. "They didn't do it. ... I think it may be simple to say George Bush, but the facts just don't bear that out."

Lingle did not mention that Republicans controlled the U.S. House for the first six years of the administration of Bush, a Republican, and the Senate for most of those six years.

Currently, Democrats have a majority in the House, but the Senate is split between 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans, with two Independents — Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Lingle also accused the Clinton administration of pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, institutions created by the federal government that purchased portfolios of mortgages, to lend to risky borrowers.

Both were taken over by federal regulators earlier this year.

Asked if any blame for the recession should be accorded to Bush, Lingle said, "There is enough blame to go around to everyone. ... When your house is burning down, you don't wait to put it out while you figure out who started it."

Lingle expressed no concerns about espousing McCain's economic themes in a climate unfriendly to Republicans and beneficial to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"The way I look at it is which of the plans is going to help or hurt" Hawai'i, she said. "Senator McCain's (tax) plan would help Hawai'i more than Senator Obama's."

Lingle continues her campaign swing today with a speech to business leaders in Bethlehem, Pa.

Tomorrow, she is to join former GOP Govs. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Jane Swift of Massachusetts at a forum in Philadelphia.

Later in the day, she is tentatively set to introduce McCain at a rally in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia.