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KENNER, LA — Before Barack Obama could even take the stage tonight to declare himself the presumptive Democratic nominee, John McCain had already painted him as an inexperienced, partisan neophyte whose policies will leave America less economically and militarily secure.

“For all his fine words and all his promise, he has never taken the hard but right course of risking his own interests for yours; of standing against the partisan rancor on his side to stand up for our country. He is an impressive man, who makes a great first impression 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,” McCain told about 500 supporters just outside of New Orleans Tuesday night, going on to describe himself as the true change agent and bipartisan reformer. (Full remarks after jump)

McCain also used the speech location–a community hard hit by Hurricane Katrina–and his most explicit language to date to distance himself from President Bush, pushing back on months of Democratic attacks linking him to the current administration.

“You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term…he tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it rather than debate honestly the very different directions he and I would take the country,” McCain said, recounting what he called the federal government’s incompetence during Hurricane Katrina. “But the American people didn’t get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama. 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.”

McCain then rattled off a number of issues where he has differed with the President including spending, the conduct of the war in Iraq, energy policy and the treatment of detainees. Campaign aides privately acknowledge that while they are confident that McCain’s maverick brand has inoculated him against the poor state of the Republican party and the President’s record-low approval ratings, the attacks from the left need to be shot down before they make an impact. One adviser said today that there is concern that voters may start to believe that McCain=Bush, “no matter how improbable it is.”

McCain also hammered away at Obama’s central theme of change, using the word 32 times, and weaved the line “that’s not change we can believe in,” into his speech seven times. The GOPer’s campaign also borrowed his opponent’s motto for a new backdrop tonight, “a leader we can believe in.”

“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,” McCain said. “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. I have a few years on my opponent, so I am surprised that a young man has bought in to so many failed ideas.”

He continued, “both Senator Obama and I promise we will end Washington’s stagnant, unproductive partisanship. But one of us has a record of working to do that and one of us doesn’t. Americans have seen me put aside partisan and personal interests to move this country forward. They haven’t seen Senator Obama do the same.”

PREPARED REMARKS AFTER JUMP (McCain stuck closely to them) (more…)

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Hudson, NH — With almost all of the Democratic and Republican candidates now competing to be the true agent of “change,” Rudy Giuliani today said he is the only candidate that represents “actual change.”

“Change, change, change, change, everybody is talking about change….the last four or five days the word change has been used more often than I have ever heard it,” Giuliani told about 100 attendees at a townhall meeting in the Granite State. “If you look at my 12 commitments, they represent change but they represent substance, not just a kind of feeling of change or a slogan of change but actual change.” (see video for more)