McCain Fires Away in N.E. Swing
Rips Obama on Iraq, oil drilling as rival takes spotlight overseas

By Michael Kranish, The Boston Globe
July 25, 2008

Article Excerpt:

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine - Senator John McCain blasted Barack Obama yesterday on both foreign and domestic policy, charging that his Democratic presidential rival was "completely wrong" on the Iraq war and is stubbornly opposing an expansion of offshore oil drilling.

Trying to compete for voters' attention with Obama's high-profile foreign tour, McCain embarked on a tour of his own - an economics-focused journey across several key swing states designed to shore up his standing on the domestic side - while not missing any chance to chastise Obama on Iraq.

McCain, who backed the surge of 30,000 additional US troops in Iraq, said Obama opposed the strategy, but is now trying to take advantage of it without acknowledging that it has worked in reducing violence and stabilizing the country.

Speaking as Obama toured Iraq - and after Iraqi officials said US troops could be withdrawn by 2010, generally in line with Obama's 16-month timetable - McCain said he would make sure that US forces don't leave until the war is won, but "could be largely withdrawn" from Iraq within two years because of the surge's success.

"When you win wars, troops come home," said McCain, who disparaged Obama as "someone who has no military experience whatsoever."

"He's been completely wrong on the issue. . . . I have been steadfast in my position."

The Arizona Republican, who received the blessing of former president George H.W. Bush at the family compound in Kennebunkport and later appeared at a campaign rally in South Portland, spent much of the day urging voters to remember that it was his support of the surge policy that may make possible the drawdown of US troops.

"I'm proud that I was right," McCain told a crowd filled with veterans on the grounds of the soon-to-open Maine Military Museum in South Portland. "That's what judgment is all about. That's why I'm qualified to lead."

Obama has steadfastly refused to say he was wrong on the surge, saying while there has been a decline in violence, there is still no political solution. Instead, Obama has said McCain wrongly backed the war and criticized him for not agreeing to a withdrawal timetable that could pressure the Iraqis to take on more responsibility for their own security.

McCain told reporters he was not concerned if Obama's trip was dominating attention and said it "doesn't in the slightest undercut" his own message.

Before heading on to Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania this week, McCain is scheduled to attend a town hall meeting in Rochester, N.H., today as a new poll showed a tight race in the state, which could be pivotal in the general election.

The poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that 46 percent of likely voters plan to vote for Obama, compared with 43 percent for McCain, a lead within the poll's 4.5-percentage-point margin of error. Only 51 percent of the 475 likely voters surveyed July 11-20 had definitely made up their minds. Voters said the most important issues were jobs and the economy.

Appealing to voters angry over high prices at the pump, McCain launched a hard-hitting new TV ad yesterday accusing Obama of doing nothing to help motorists.

"Gas prices - $4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America," the narrator says. "No to independence from foreign oil. Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" A crowd, chanting "Obama, Obama," can be heard.

"Don't hope for more energy, vote for it," the announcer says, ridiculing one of Obama's main campaign themes.

Obama's campaign says that more offshore drilling wouldn't provide any relief for a decade, and instead promoted his plan to invest $150 billion in renewable sources of energy.

McCain, also pledging to end US dependence on foreign oil, told the South Portland crowd that it is a national security issue because some of the billions of dollars ends up in the hands of terrorists.

McCain has tried for days to prevent Obama from gaining an advantage on Iraq, which the presumptive Republican nominee had hoped would be one of his strongest issues.

The two candidates have also tangled over Afghanistan, which Obama visited over the weekend. Obama has called for roughly 10,000 additional US troops to go to Afghanistan, which Obama said should be the central focus of the war on terror. McCain last week called for up to 15,000 additional troops, but he has not said how many would come from the United States.

Yesterday, McCain said he has always maintained that the war in Afghanistan will be "long and tough and hard."

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