McCain hits Biden remark

John McCain added another critique of Democratic rival Barack Obama to his stump speech yesterday, pouncing on remarks by Obama's running mate to reassert that he is more ready to be commander in chief.

At a fund-raiser Sunday night in Seattle, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden predicted that if Obama is elected, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy," who authorized the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba three months after his inauguration in 1961, then faced the Cuban missile crisis the following year.

"Watch, we're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy," Biden continued, according to press accounts. "As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it's going to happen. . . . And he's going to need help."

In similar remarks at another event the same night, Biden quickly added that those who test Obama will quickly find out he has "a spine of steel."

McCain saw an opportunity to parlay his greater experience in foreign policy, as he continued to rally his conservative base by suggesting Obama is a socialist on taxes and railing against the "feminist left" for attacks on his running mate Sarah Palin.

"We face many challenges here at home, and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world," McCain told a rally in Belton, Mo. "We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars."

Referring to Biden's comment about Obama needing "help," McCain added, "Senator Obama won't have the right response, and we know that because we've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign."

Obama spokesman David Wade responded, "With our nation facing two wars and 21st-century threats abroad, Senator Biden referenced the simple fact that history shows presidents face challenges from day one."