Today on the presidential campaign trail

Ron Burgundy · 08-19-2008, 01:41 PM

AP - IN THE HEADLINES

Obama tells military veterans that McCain is wrong to question his character and patriotism ... Obama prepares to announce choice for vice president in the coming days ... Atlanta fundraiser tied to Abramoff scandal figure brings in more than $1.75 million for GOP

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Obama hits back at McCain over Iraq war

ORLANDO (AP) Democrat Barack Obama challenged his Republican opponent John McCain on Tuesday to stop questioning his "character and patriotism."

Addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Obama reaffirmed his early opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq and said the so-called "surge" strategy of sending 30,000 additional troops to Iraq last year had not produced the political reconciliation necessary to achieve lasting peace in the country. McCain supported the Iraq invasion and was an early champion of the surge.

"These are the judgments I've made and the policies that we have to debate, because we do have differences in this election," Obama said. "One of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can't disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism. I have never suggested that Sen. McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America's national interest. Now, it's time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.

"Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country," Obama said to applause.

McCain stood before the same audience a day earlier and said Obama "tried to legislate failure" in the Iraq war and had put his ambition to be president above the interests of the United States. He said the Illinois senator did this by pushing for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq and by voting in the Senate against a major appropriations bill to help fund the troop increase.

A decorated Vietnam war veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Arizona senator has sharply questioned whether the 47-year old Obama has the experience and character necessary to serve as commander in chief.

McCain has also spoken out strongly against Russia's invasion of the Republic of Georgia, using Obama's absence from the campaign trail last week when he was on vacation in Hawaii to take a hard line against the Russian government. His tough talk led some of Obama's foreign policy advisers to suggest McCain may have complicated the conflict.

Obama strongly condemned Russia's actions Tuesday but said the U.S. involvement in Iraq had imperiled U.S. ability to take a leadership role in the matter.

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Obama VP announcement expected in coming days

CHICAGO (AP) Barack Obama will publicly disclose his vice presidential choice in the coming days, though the Democrat is keeping most aides who are preparing for the announcement in the dark and giving away nothing to voters as he campaigns.

The Illinois senator has staffers in place to aid the No. 2 and his or her spouse, including more than a dozen seasoned operatives who have set up shop in a section of the campaign's Chicago headquarters. They are running through various logistical scenarios involved in taking over the relatively normal life of a person they do not know and thrusting them into the unrelenting glare of a presidential campaign.

Obama was believed to have narrowed his list to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. While it seemed increasingly unlikely that he would choose his vanquished rival, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, some Democrats speculated Monday that he could pull a surprise and pick her.

Former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, a close Obama adviser, said Monday he had given the campaign personal information needed to examine the background of potential vice presidential nominees but was confident he wouldn't be selected.

"I did give ... documents a long time ago, but these matters have been resolved for a long time now as far as I'm concerned," Daschle told The Associated Press in an interview.

Only Obama, his wife, Michelle, a handful of his most senior advisers and his two-member search committee know for certain who was on the initial list, who made the cuts, whose backgrounds were researched, whose names were floated to divert the media and who Obama ultimately will choose.

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McCain nets $1.75 million at Reed-linked event

ATLANTA (AP) John McCain raised more than $1.75 million for Republicans Monday at a fundraiser that became high profile after a political operative connected to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff promoted it.

The event was promoted by Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition. McCain's campaign said it was organized by the Republican National Committee not Reed, who was linked to the Abramoff scandal that McCain investigated in the Senate.

McCain didn't note the issue during his 22-minute appearance. Instead, he thanked donors to the Republicans' umbrella campaign fund.

"Everybody in this room could be someplace else," the Arizona senator told the crowd of several hundred. "Everybody in this room could be donating to some other cause or to their own well-being. But I want to thank you."

Reed was not seen inside the hotel ballroom; a McCain campaign spokeswoman said he did not attend. But Democrat Barack Obama's rival presidential campaign sought to make him an issue, asking how much Reed-linked money was raised or would be kept by McCain's campaign.

"Faced with the embarrassing prospect of holding a fundraiser with one of Jack Abramoff's closest associates, the McCain campaign scrambled today to scratch Ralph Reed from tonight's program, but voters deserve to know the answers to the real questions raised by Reed's involvement," Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama speaks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando, Fla., and holds a town hall meeting in Raleigh, N.C.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain campaigns in Louisiana.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country." Barack Obama.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Republican John McCain is leading Democrat Barack Obama by 10 points among whites, according to a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll.