John McCain rips Barack Obama

February 13, 2008

In a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday, John McCain first claimed he respected Barack Obama, then he went after him.

"I respect him and the campaign he has run," McCain said. "But there is going to be time when we have to get into specifics, and I have heard not every speech he has given obviously, but they are singularly lacking in specifics, and that's when as the campaign moves forward, we will be portraying very stark differences."

Those comments are among McCain's most pointed attack at Obama to date, a clear sign the Republican nominee apparent is increasingly viewing the Illinois senator as the Democratic frontrunner. The comments also closely echo criticisms Clinton launched earlier Wednesday morning when she said in part, "We need real results, not more rhetoric."

McCain also took aim at Obama for recently being named the most liberal senator in 2007 by a recent nonpartisan survey.

"It's not an accident that he has, according to the National Journal, the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate," McCain said. "I have on one of most conservative."

Obama repsoneded saying, "I look forward to a debate with John McCain, who has been the biggest champion of Bush policies. If you want more of the same, I think he's a good choice. But if you want something different, vote for me."

"It's a Washington where politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton voted for a war in Iraq that should've never been authorized and never been waged - a war that is costing us thousands of precious lives and billions of dollars a week," Mr. Obama said.

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