Obama woos moderate voters

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama, seeking to appeal to centrist voters in stops in traditional Republican territory, instead drew fire from his opponents when he appeared to suggest that he would reconsider his plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months if elected.

The Democratic presidential hopeful, in a stop in Republican stronghold North Dakota, said that his upcoming trip to Iraq would help him refine his policy on troop withdrawals. The comment drew immediate criticism from Republicans, with the national party spokesperson accusing him of changing course yet again on a major policy issue.

"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience," said Alex Conant, a spokesperson for the national Republican Party. "Obama's Iraq problem undermines the central premise of his candidacy and shows him to be a typical politician."

Obama, who is running on a promise to bring change to Washington, quickly called a second news conference, accusing supporters of Republican rival John McCain of distorting his remarks. But the comments, and the exchange, underscored the stakes in a presidential race in which swing voters - courted by both Obama and McCain - are expected to play in the November elections.

McCain has been a vocal supporter of the Iraq war and has expressed opposition to pulling out US troops until the Iraqis are able to manage their own security - positions that have opened him up to criticism from the Illinois senator. Obama has argued that McCain offers little more than a continuation of President George W Bush's policies and the unpopular war.

The Republican, a former Vietnam prisoner of war who has visited Iraq several times over the past few years, has tried to portray himself as more experienced on national security and foreign policy matters.

Obama's planned trip to Iraq comes, in part, in response to criticism that his one trip to Iraq gives him little latitude to speak authoritatively on the issue.

'I will give them a new mission...'

Obama, in the second news conference, said what he learns from military commanders on his upcoming trip will refine his policy, but "not the 16-month timetable" for withdrawing US troops from combat in Iraq. He said what he learns could affect how many residual troops might be needed to train the Iraqi army and police.

"I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder and that it needs to come to an end," he said. "I have also said I would be deliberate and careful about how we get out. That position has not changed. I am not searching for manoeuvring room with respect to that position."

He promised to summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his first day in office "and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war, responsibly and deliberately, but decisively".

The back-and-forth over Iraq came as Obama pushed forward into Republican strongholds such as North Dakota, Missouri and Montana, which has voted Republican for the White House by a hefty margin for almost four decades. In those appearances, he was expected to use the US Independence Day holiday weekend to emphasise his recent themes of patriotism and service to the country.

Obama's courting of centrist voters also was evident in statements about late-term abortions he made in an interview this week with Relevant, a Christian magazine. Obama said "mental distress" should not qualify as a health exception for late term-abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.

"I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term," Obama said.

Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions. The health care exception is crucial to abortion rights advocates and is considered a legal loophole by abortion opponents. By limiting the health exception to a "serious physical issue," Obama set himself apart from other abortion rights proponents.

McCain's symbolic stop

His recent focus on conservative states appears aimed at showing he can win a wide swath of voters, and any shifts toward more-centrist positions by Obama and McCain could be important in the November election.

McCain, meanwhile, wrapped up a three-day visit to Colombia and Mexico to promote free trade and burnish his foreign policy credentials.

On Thursday, McCain made a highly symbolic stop at Mexico City's famed Basilica de Guadalupe, Mexico's holiest site for Roman Catholics, and received a blessing from its monsignor.

Catholic and Hispanic voters in the United States, many of whom had been solidly behind Obama's earlier Democratic opponent, Sen Hillary Clinton, are expected to be key swing voters in the November election.

McCain, who also met with the presidents of Mexico and Columbia, was scheduled to spend the holiday weekend at home in Arizona.

- AP