Sen. McCain and his mother co-star in a Mother’s Day ad set to air on on ABC Family, A&E, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, Oxygen and TLC. The TV spot comes out just as the GOPer is battling the age issue.

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COLUMBIA, SC — Asked if he is prepared to take on Barack Obama today, John McCain didn’t pause.

“Oh I’m ready,” he told reporters at a press conference in South Carolina. “I’m ready to take to the American people the challenges of the issues we face. Whether it be raising your taxes as Senator Obama wants to do. Something like capital gains where 100 million Americans have an investment or have the government make the decisions on health care or the family or certainly issues such as national security.”

McCain continued his assault on Obama’s foreign policy vision in his second media availabilty in less than four hours.

“Senator Obama continues to say he would sit down and negotiate with the president of Iran who yesterday called the state of Israel a stinking corpse,” McCain said. “That’s a dramatic difference between my view of the relations with a state sponsor of terror that is exporting lethal explosive devices into Iraq killing Americans and I would not give them the respect or the ability to enhance their prestige by sitting down and talking to the head of the state sponsor of terrorism who repeats his country’s dedication to the extinction of the state of Israel.”

The Arizona Senator also commented on the escalating violence in Lebanon, condemning what he feels is Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs.

“The Syrians are obviously playing a role and would like to a reassert or increase their influence in Lebanon and its affairs,” McCain said. “I think that obviously pressure (has) to be brought to bear on Syria, who is the major motivator I think of a lot of their continued effort to gain control of Lebanon and continue the influence they have had for a long period of time. And I would recommend that we of course convene other and work with other nations who have an interest in Lebanon and peace in the region.”

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JERSEY CITY, NJ — McCain laughs off suggestions he didn’t vote for President Bush in 2000, saying the accusation marks the start of political “silly season.”

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JERSEY CITY, NJ – Sen. John McCain struck back at his likely Democratic rival Friday, arguing that a senior Hamas adviser’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama is a “legitimate point of discussion,” after Obama called the issue a “smear.”

“It’s very obvious to everyone that Senator Obama shares nothing of the values or the goals of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, I think that that’s obvious and I’ve certainly never implied anything else,” McCain told reporters a press conference in the Garden State Friday. “But it’s also a fact that a spokesperson from Hamas said that he approves of Senator Obama’s candidacy. I think that’s of interest to the American people and that is something that needs to be discussed–why his policies should meet the approval of a spokesperson for Hamas. I believe that’s a legitimate point of discussion.”

McCain was responding to comments made by Sen. Obama on CNN yesterday where the Illinois Senator accused the GOPer of smearing him by using the Hamas endorsement and then took a jab at his age.

“For him to toss out comments like that, I think, is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don’t need name-calling in this debate,” Obama told CNN Thursday.

While McCain said Friday that he ignored the comments, the campaign’s senior adviser Mark Salter released a memo Thursday that hammered Obama for bringing up McCain’s age and “trying desperately to delegitamize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States.” (FULL MEMO AFTER JUMP)

For his part, McCain said Friday that he agrees that age is a legitimate topic for the campaign but quickly pivoted to the Jeremiah Wright issue, adding that Obama’s pastor is just as legitimate an issue.

“Every issue that the American people want to be an issue and it’s part of their discussions, it’s fine with me, it’s fine with me. Just as the Reverend Wright’s remarks, I don’t believe that senator Obama shares his views in any way but he has said that It is a legitimate topic of discussion. If that’s what the American people want to discuss, that’s fine,” McCain said. “I’ll continue to try to introduce them to my 96-year-old mother and display the same vigor and same energy that I have been able to display throughout this campaign which allowed me to win the nomination of my party. Any discussion, in my view, of any issue that the American people think is legitimate is up to them.”

For good measure, CT Sen. Joe Lieberman, who accompanied McCain to the press conference said that Americans can be assured that the presumptive GOP nominee’s “bearings” are in place.

“I just want to report that this morning I personally checked John McCain’s bearings. He has not lost any of them. They are really in great shape,” Lieberman said.

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ROCHESTER, MI — Asked about his infamous temper today, John McCain delivered a rousing response, exclaiming that he is just as angry as the rest of America with the corruption and wasteful spending in Washington.

“I will confess to you my friend that I get angry…I get angry when I see corruption to the point where we have former members of Congress residing in federal prison,” McCain said at a townhall meeting Wednesday, sounding at times like the Howard Beale character from the film “Network.” “And you know something? The American people are angry too and they’re not going to take it anymore. And that’s why they want change. And they’re mad and they’ve lost their temper. You know? These townhall meetings, ask them if they’re not mad! Ask ‘em. Ask ‘em the way their tax dollars and spending has gone completely out of control.”

Though journalists frequently ask McCain about his temperament, the question rarely come sup at townhall meetings. The questioner, a self-described Republican man said McCain’s temper was a “concern” before going on to quote Sen. Thad Cochran’s statement that McCain is too “erratic” and “hotheaded” to be President.

McCain initially joked with him, responding “how dare you ask that question? Take that microphone away from him,” drawing laughter from the crowd.

McCain went on to add, “I get angry when I saw a guy named Abramoff that ripped off Native Americans for millions and millions and millions of dollars and people ended up, including him, in federal prison. I get angry when I see 233 million of your tax dollars going to…a bridge to an island with 50 people on it. And that’s your dollars.”

Here is the scene from “Network:”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a leader of the social conservative community, is a fan of today’s remarks:

From a release….

“Senator McCain’s speech will be well- received by millions of Americans alarmed by activist judges who undermine the rule of law by legislating from the bench.

“We applaud Senator McCain for his support of federal judges who will apply the U.S. Constitution. He is correct in criticizing both federal judges who presume to ‘make law instead of apply it’ and the obstructionist Senate Democratic leaders who continue to deny hearings to well-qualified judicial nominees.

“The Senate Democratic leadership views the judiciary as a tool to dictate social policy. If they can’t pass a hate-crimes law, they will support judges who will install one from the bench. If they can’t overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, they will find a judge to declare it unconstitutional.

“Essentially, the Democrats in the Senate have committed themselves to obstruct and pervert the judicial process until the time, they hope, when a liberal president can nominate judicial activists to reshape the social policy landscape of America.

“I thank Senator McCain for the commitment he made today to ‘restore the standards and spirit that give the judicial branch its place of honor in our government…. Every federal court should be a refuge from abuses of power, and not the source’ of them.”

Expect Camp McCain to continue to paint Obama as elitist and out of touch throughout the next six months–today throwing his judicial philosophy in with his “bitter” and “cling” comments, arugula references and opposition to a gas tax holiday.

McCain said today:

• “Somehow, by Senator Obama’s standard, even Judge Roberts didn’t measure up. And neither did Justice Samuel Alito. Apparently, nobody quite fits the bill except for an elite group of activist judges, lawyers, and law professors who think they know wisdom when they see it — and they see it only in each other.”

But Obama–who has had a problem appealing to white middle class voters in recent Democratic primaries (being called the “Bubba Gap”)–had his own push back for McCain on ABC’s Nightline Monday night:

• “My upbringing was much more reflective of what working class black and whites go through than John McCain’s background being raised as the son of an admiral in boarding schools.”

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Winston-Salem, NC — Sen. John McCain slammed his Democratic rivals’ judicial philosophy and railed against “activist judges” who show “little regard” for the Constitution and even “less interest” for the interests of the American people, during a speech today at Wake Forest University.

“Some federal judges operate by fiat, shrugging off generations of legal wisdom and precedent while expecting their own opinions to go unquestioned. Only their favorite precedents are to be considered “settled law,” and everything else is fair game,” McCain said, addressing more than 2,000 University students, staff and faculty at the college’s Wait Chapel, before turning his attention to the Democrats. “”Senators Obama and Clinton have very different ideas from my own. They are both lawyers themselves, and don’t seem to mind at all when fundamental questions of social policy are preemptively decided by judges instead of by the people and their elected representatives. Nor have they raised objections to the unfair treatment of judicial nominees.”

McCain focused much of his fire at the Democratic frontrunner and continued to paint Sen. Barack Obama as elitist and out of touch–rebuking the Illinois Senator for using “vague words” to justify judicial activism and maintaining standards that “proved too lofty” to vote to confirm the “brilliant, fair-minded” Chief Justice John Roberts. (VIDEO ABOVE)

“He went right along with the partisan crowd, and was among the 22 senators to vote against this highly qualified nominee,” McCain said, as he completed a two-day swing through the Tar Heel state partially meant to steal some attention from the Democrats competing in today’s primary. “Somehow, by Senator Obama’s standard, even Judge Roberts didn’t measure up. And neither did Justice Samuel Alito. Apparently, nobody quite fits the bill except for an elite group of activist judges, lawyers, and law professors who think they know wisdom when they see it — and they see it only in each other.”

Flanked by former presidential rival Fred Thompson and former Solicitor General Ted Olsen–both held in very high-esteem by conservatives–McCain outlined his judicial philosophy in a speech that sought to bolster his support on the right.

“I will look for accomplished men and women with a proven record of excellence in the law, and a proven commitment to judicial restraint…my nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power,” McCain said.

Though McCain fed some red meat to his skeptics on the conservative right who are critical of his participation in the bipartisan Gang of 14–a group of senators who created a temporary truce to vote through some but not all Bush federal court appointments–he avoided discussion of some of the hot-button social issues like Roe v. Wade and gun rights.

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McCain launched a new TV ad Friday focusing on his health care plan that is set to air in the key swing state of Ohio.

The ad lauds his health care plan but is notable for one graphic at the top of the ad. While you watch video of McCain walking at the beginning, notice that the words “President McCain,” are displayed on the left side of the screen, as opposed to say, “McCain for President.” About 200 more days and a general election to go there team McCain…

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Cleveland, OH — As Democrats use the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” Iraq speech to blast Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee distanced himself from the phrase and condemned what he says was an atmosphere that contributed to the use of that banner.

“To state the obvious, I thought it was wrong at the time. I thought phrases like ‘a few dead-enders,’ ‘last throes,’ all of those comments contributed over time to the frustration and sorrow of Americans because those statements and comments did not comport with the facts on the ground,” McCain said at a media availability Thursday. “I complained loud and long that the strategy was failing and we couldn’t succeed…I was one of the strongest advocates, of changing to adopt the surge, an advocate for General (David) Petraeus, and I think that history will judge me that I thought it was wrong and I knew what was right.”

Asked if Bush bore responsibility for the placement of the “Mission Accomplished” banner posted above him at the speech, McCain took a big picture approach.

“Do I blame him for that specific banner? I have no knowledge of that. I can’t blame him for that. But I do, do say statements were made-’a few dead-enders,’ ‘last throes’…(that) were contradicted by the facts on the ground,” McCain said, rebuking famous quotes by former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney respectively.

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While April was the bloodiest month for U.S. troops in Iraq in more than six months, McCain touted recent progress, criticizing a BBC reporter who premised her question by stating that there had been little political progress in Iraq.

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