Obama 'disappointed' in McCain attack

Barack Obama says he was "disappointed" by Republican rival John McCain saying that he "would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign" -- a line of attack that McCain introduced Tuesday at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire.

"You know, John McCain and I disagree on policy," Obama says in an interview that will air tonight on "NBC Nightly News." "You know, we disagreed on going into the war in Iraq. We disagreed, until recently, about the need to get more troops into Afghanistan. But I've never questioned that he wants to make America safer. And for him to suggest that I don't -- for him to suggest that somehow I'm less concerned about the safety of my wife and daughter than he is -- I think was unfortunate."

UPDATE: McCain elaborated on his accusation, saying today that he is referring to Obama currying favor with liberal antiwar groups, such as MoveOn.org, with his Iraq policy.

"I stand by my comments," McCain told reporters in Columbus, Ohio.

According to excerpts of the interview released by NBC News, Obama said he understood findings in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that 55 percent of voters believe that Obama is the riskier choice for president, compared to 35 percent who think the same about McCain.

"Well, I do understand it," told NBC News anchor Brian Williams in Berlin. "I'm new to the scene. John McCain's been around 25, 30 years in public life. I have just recently emerged in terms of our national politics. And so it's not surprising that people would say that the guy we're more familiar with is the less riskier choice. That doesn't answer the broader question, though, which is what do Americans think we need right now?

"And can we afford to have four more years or eight more years of the same types of policies that we've had for the past eight?" Obama continued. "And in some ways, I guess that would be safe. It's the devil you know versus the devil you don't. But I think the American people understand that we're in a time of profound challenge and that we've got to make some significant changes in how our economy works, in how our tax policy is structured, in our energy policy and our foreign policy if we're gonna meet those challenges."

Obama also said that his high-profile foreign trip has been well worth it.

"It is because I have firmly believed since the beginning of this campaign and for the last several years that we can't solve the problems we face in the United States alone. We can't solve the problems of terrorism without support from the international community. We can go after al Qaeda as we have and we must. We can hunt them down. But we are gonna be more effective if we've got an international coalition. If we wanna pressure Iran -- something that has to be at the highest priority to back down from nuclear weapons -- then we've gotta impose very tough sanctions."