McCain fires away in N.E. swing

Rips Obama on Iraq, oil drilling as rival takes spotlight overseas

Former president George H.W. Bush had glowing words for John McCain at the compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. (brian snyder/Reuters)

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Speaking as Obama toured Iraq - and after Iraqi officials said US troops could be withdrawn by 2010, generally in line with Obama's 16-month timetable - McCain said he would make sure that US forces don't leave until the war is won, but "could be largely withdrawn" from Iraq within two years because of the surge's success.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

While there has been speculation that Obama might make a costly gaffe during his trip overseas, it was the more experienced McCain who flubbed a question about the situation in Afghanistan, where both candidates want to send more US troops to take on the resurgent Taliban. "I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border," McCain said on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."

Iraq and Pakistan, as Democrats gleefully pointed out, do not share a border; it is Afghanistan's border with Pakistan where intelligence officials believe remnants of Al Qaeda are rebuilding.

Appearing at the Bush family compound of Walker's Point, McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with former President Bush, who said of McCain, "My respect for him knows no bounds. He will be a great president."

It was left unspoken that McCain has been critical of the handling of the Iraq war by Bush's son, President Bush.

The former president sidestepped efforts by reporters to be drawn into a discussion of Iraq policy, saying he no longer follows events on a daily basis.

The 84-year-old Bush, who was elected in 1988 and served until January 1993, walked slowly from his golf cart to the news conference on the lawn. He joked frequently with the assembled press corps, some of whom covered his presidency, including his vacations in Kennebunkport.

Having once campaigned against Al Gore by calling him "Ozone Man," Bush yesterday showed off what he called his "green" credentials, boasting about his solar panels, "smart car," and energy-saving boat engine.

But he could not resist joking that his windmill was put up not to collect megawatts, but to kill some coastal birds. There are more of the birds, Bush joked, "than you can shake a stick at."

Michael Kranish can be reached at kranish@globe.com.