Today on the presidential campaign trail

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. arrives at Midway Airport in Chicago, Saturday, July 26, 2008. . (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

IN THE HEADLINES

McCain says Obama's withdrawal timeline is based on politics ... Obama to meet with key economic advisers to discuss economic stimulus ... McCain campaign says Obama chose world leaders and speeches over 'injured American heroes'

------

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican presidential contender John McCain said that his challenger, Barack Obama, decided on a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq based on political expediency.

McCain, the likely GOP nominee, said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he is not questioning Obama's patriotism when criticizing the Democrat's policies for the war. Obama has called for a withdrawal over 16 months.

"I am saying that he made the decision, which was political, in order to help him get the nomination of his party," McCain said in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

The comments are the latest in a string of McCain's criticism of Obama on foreign policy. On Sunday, one of his longtime friends urged McCain to step back from the idea that, as McCain has put it, "Sen. Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a campaign."

"John's better than that," said retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a frequent war critic who has been close to McCain during 12 years in the Senate.

Hagel had just returned from visiting Afghanistan and Iraq with a congressional delegation that included Obama.

"It's just not responsible to be saying things like that," Hagel said on CBS' "Face the Nation." He urged both presidential candidates to be careful about campaign rhetoric involving the war.

McCain criticized Obama's timeline for withdrawal even though he acknowledged Friday that that 16 months is "a pretty good timetable." Withdrawal, he said, should be based on conditions on the ground.

------

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Presidential contender Barack Obama is pivoting from foreign policy to the economy at home.

Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday that cost of gas and food will keep Americans focused on finances even during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. The Illinois Democrat said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he's gathering key economic advisers on Monday to discuss a second economic stimulus package and ways to deal with high energy prices.

Among the people he will talk to are investor Warren Buffett, Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, as well as former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.

"What is driving people all across the country right now is worries and concerns about inability to pay the gas bill and inability to buy food because prices have gone up so high," Obama said.

Obama was asked whether high gas prices are a good thing in a way because it has forced the nation to focus on energy policy. He said he did not think so because ordinary families are under enormous stress. However, the question gave him an opportunity to talk about his support for higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, which he said his opponent, Republican candidate John McCain, has consistently opposed.

"We should have over the last 20 years been planning for this day," Obama said.

The McCain campaign responded that their candidate has voted for legislation supporting tougher efficiency standards for several years and introduced legislation in 2002 to accomplish that goal.

------

McCain camp: Obama shortchanged injured troops

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican John McCain's campaign sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."

Obama's campaign called the accusation "wildly inappropriate." His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit.

A new McCain ad that began airing Saturday in selected markets also chides Obama as disrespectful for making "time to go to the gym" during his European visit while at the same time canceling the visit with wounded troops.

"Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras," according to the ad, which is being televised in Colorado, Pennsylvania and the Washington D.C. area. "John McCain is always there for our troops."

McCain himself joined in the rebuke, saying in an interview to be aired Sunday by ABC's "This Week" that "if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn't visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event."

The McCain campaign's criticism came as it grappled for another day with the intense media attention focused on Obama's tour of the Middle East and Europe. The Arizona Republican had goaded Obama into visiting Iraq and Afghanistan, then watched as Obama's meetings with the leaders of those countries and Jordan, Israel, the Palestinians, Germany, France and Great Britain dominated the political news.

------

THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama spoke at the convention of UNITY: Journalists of Color in Chicago.

------

THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain had no scheduled public events.

------

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Barack Obama is the Jackie Robinson of our era. There's no getting around that, there's no asking people not to respond to that." -- Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Miami Herald.

------

STAT OF THE DAY:

More than three-quarters of Latinos who had voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primaries now say they are for Barack Obama, according to a recent national survey conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center. Clinton carried the Hispanic vote by about a 2-1 margin in the primaries

------

Compiled by Ann Sanner and Ronald Powers.