The New York Times-20080127-McCain Goes On Offensive In Tight Race In Florida

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080127

McCain Goes On Offensive In Tight Race In Florida

Full Text (440  words)

Senator John McCain stepped up his attacks on his Republican rival Mitt Romney on Saturday, accusing him of once wanting to withdraw from Iraq and likening him to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in his approach to the conflict.

In response, Mr. Romney lashed back, saying Mr. McCain was being dishonest, and demanded that he apologize.

Mr. McCain's comments marked the second straight day of going on the offensive against Mr. Romney, and they came as polls showed the two men locked in a tight race in Florida, where the Republican primary will be held Tuesday.

Mr. McCain received a significant endorsement on Saturday from the state's popular Republican governor, Charlie Crist.

Mr. Crist called Mr. McCain, who endorsed him in his 2006 campaign for governor, a true American hero at a Lincoln Day dinner in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

While Mr. Romney, a former business executive and governor of Massachusetts, has reveled in the shift in attention to the economy in the contest, Mr. McCain, of Arizona, has sought to remind voters about the continuing threat of Islamic extremism and his national security credentials.

If we surrender and wave a white flag like Senator Clinton wants to do and withdraw as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, Mr. McCain said to reporters in Fort Myers on Saturday morning.

At a town-hall-style meeting later in Sun City Center, a retirement community, Mr. McCain reiterated his accusation.

My friends, I was there -- he said he wanted a timetable for withdrawal, Mr. McCain said.

The charge appears to be misleading. The McCain campaign pointed to remarks Mr. Romney made last year in which he said he believed that President Bush and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq should have a series of timetables and milestones that they discussed among themselves but did not announce publicly.

But Mr. Romney has not called for setting a date for withdrawal. Mr. Romney has said he supports the president's current strategy, although he has said he anticipates more and more American troops moving into a support role in Iraq in the next year -- similar to what Gen. David H. Petraeus outlined in his testimony before Congress last year.

I know he's trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq, but to say something that's not accurate is simply wrong, Mr. Romney said Saturday. He knows better.

But in Sun City Center, Mr. McCain said he owed no apology to Mr. Romney. Instead, he said, it was Mr. Romney who should apologize to the young men and women who are serving in uniform.