Barack Obama and John McCain accused each other of flip-flopping yesterday, with Obama questioning the forthrightness of the Republican presidential ticket and McCain challenging the Democrat's toughness on defense.
Obama ridiculed his opponents' claim that they represent the best hope for change - something voters say they desperately want - accusing McCain and running mate Sarah Palin of attempting to "repackage themselves" out of political necessity. Taking aim at Palin, Obama challenged the Alaska governor's assertion that she opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere," a project that has become a symbol of government pork and, lately, of Palin's willingness to buck the political establishment.
Yesterday, the McCain campaign launched a television ad that says Palin stopped the $400 million bridge - even though she spoke of the project in supportive terms while running for governor in 2006 and, after the bridge was canceled, kept the money for other Alaska programs.
"She was for it until everyone started raising a fuss about it," Obama said while campaigning in Flint, Mich. "You can't just make stuff up. You can't just re-create yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself. The American people aren't stupid."
McCain, campaigning in Missouri, seized on comments Obama made Sunday in an interview on ABC. Asked on This Week to name changes he planned as president that would be unpopular with his party, the Illinois senator responded by calling for a bigger military. McCain said that statement was at odds with comments Obama made a year ago while campaigning for the Democratic nomination, when he vowed to "cut investments in unproven missile-defense systems."
"My friends, we have found out in recent days that this is a more dangerous world than we had thought," McCain said in Lee's Summit, Mo. "This is not a time to slow our development of future combat systems. This is not that time."
The Arizona senator went on to question Obama's larger judgment on foreign policy, citing his opposition to the troop buildup in Iraq, his willingness to meet with the leaders of Iran and other U.S. enemies, and his initial comments on the Russia-Georgia conflict, which McCain said were too pro-Russia.
McCain and Palin had planned to campaign separately yesterday after appearing together over the weekend. But given the large, supportive crowds she has drawn, the pair continued together for another day in Missouri, one of several Midwestern battleground states.
