Hardly a stump speech goes by in this final week of the presidential campaign without the candidates making direct appeals for the votes of the country's more than 26 million small-business owners.

In his ''Joe the Plumber Tour'' through Central Florida last week, Sen. John McCain appeared with a host of small-business archetypes at his side. Appearances by Gary the Dentist, Jim the Produce-Stand Owner and Ramon the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President were all designed to show the Republican was in touch with small-business owners.

When Sen. Barack Obama addressed a crowd in Miami last week, he said, ``My plan will cut taxes for working Joes and small-business people all across this country to help them pursue their dreams.''

Behind the sound bites, the dueling candidates offer two starkly different economic plans for small-business owners, and in South Florida -- where small businesses are the foundation of the local economy -- voters are listening closely. South Florida's more than one million small businesses account for 98 percent of all companies.

In tough economic times, it's not uncommon for politicians to focus on small businesses. ''Main Street resonates much better than Wall Street when it comes to individual voters,'' said Kristie Darien, executive director of the National Association for the Self-Employed, a membership organization for micro-businesses.

None of the three major small business lobbies -- NASE, the National Small Business Association and the National Federation of Independent Business -- has made an endorsement in the presidential race.

Here's a look at where the two main presidential contenders stand on issues that are key to small business:

TAXES

Taxes are at the center of the debate. McCain wants to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts that lowered individual rates, a position that appeals to many small-business owners because most small businesses are taxed through the owner's personal income tax. McCain also wants to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, and claims that Obama's tax plan would raise taxes on small-business owners, reducing their profits and making it harder for them to create new jobs.

But Obama counters his plan would raise taxes only on those households making more than $250,000 a year, which he says would not hurt many small businesses. Indeed, the tax hike would affect just 1.9 percent of small-business owners, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.

Courtenay Carr, co-owner of Miami-based Tropical Delight Daiquiris, which makes drink mixes, said the Republican message swayed her. ''I'm supporting McCain because of what I heard about his programs for small businesses,'' she said.

Carr doesn't take home $250,000 a year, and as a result would get a tax cut under Obama's plan. But she said such profits weren't out of reach, and she didn't want to be taxed if she achieved them. ''You put so much hard work into everything you do on a daily basis,'' she said. ``If you make $250,000 a year, that's the payoff for all your work. It should not be penalized.''

Victoria Villalba, founder of Victoria & Associates Career Services, a Miami job-placement firm, said she could be affected by Obama's higher tax rates and supported them anyway. ''To live in this great country, I understand I have to pay more money in taxes,'' she said.

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