McCain slams rival Obama

New Orleans - Republican John McCain welcomed Democrat Barack Obama into the general election campaign for the White House on Tuesday with a blistering attack on his judgement and a charge that he "voted to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq.

"Americans ought to be concerned about the judgement of a presidential candidate who says he's ready to talk, in person and without conditions, with tyrants from Havana to Pyongyang, but hasn't travelled to Iraq to meet with General (David) Petraeus, and see for himself the progress he threatens to reverse," McCain said as his rival wrapped up the Democratic nomination.

McCain cast Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, as lacking the experience and discretion to be a wartime commander in chief, and he argued the Democrat's calls for a troop withdrawal from Iraq would imperil the United States.

The Arizona senator mocked Obama's promise of change for a country weary of the status quo, uttering the word "change" no fewer than 33 times.

"No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But, the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.

"The wrong change looks not to the future but to the past for solutions that have failed us before and will surely fail us again," McCain said.

'Great first impression'

"He is an impressive man who makes a great first impression," McCain said. "But he hasn't been willing to make the tough calls, to challenge his party, to risk criticism from his supporters, to bring real change to Washington. I have."

In a speech intended to mark the start of the general election, the Republican defended himself against Obama's frequent claim that McCain is "running for President Bush's third term" because McCain supports the Iraq war and wants to extend the president's tax cuts.

Voters do not buy it, McCain said.

"The American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama," McCain said. "They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They've seen me put our country before any president, before any party, before any special interest, before my own interest."

Global warming

McCain sought to distance himself from Bush by delivering the speech in New Orleans, a city whose ravages from Hurricane Katrina became a glaring symbol of Bush administration incompetence. The Arizona senator campaigned here six weeks ago, vowing that such a disaster would never again be handled in such a disgraceful way.

He contrasted his views on global warming and energy independence with those of Bush, and he criticised Obama for voting for Bush's energy bill, which he said gave more breaks to the oil industry.

"I opposed it because I know we won't achieve energy independence by repeating the mistakes of the last half-century. That's not change we can believe in," McCain said, once again evoking Obama's campaign theme, "Change we can believe in."

In a play on the slogan, McCain spoke in front of a campaign banner that read, "A leader we can believe in."

Obama, declaring himself the Democratic nominee after Tuesday's primaries, fired back: "There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them."

- AP