Fresh off his week long Hawaiian vacation, Barack Obama accused McCain of going negative by running a television ad that says an Obama election spells economic disaster. It’s a “same, old tired campaign” tactic Obama says Republicans have utilized “every four years for the last who knows how long.”

“They don’t have something positive to say about what they’re going to do for America. What they try to do is they say, ‘Well this other guy, he’s unpatriotic. Or, ‘This other guy, he likes French people.’ That’s what they said about Kerry. Or you know, they try to make it out like somehow Democrats aren’t tough enough or aren’t macho enough,” he said, recalling the 2004 campaign.

While the strategy has been effective in winning elections, Obama says it hasn’t helped the country’s woes. “That’s their strategy and they do it every four years and then you end up with what we’ve got right now. I have news for John McCain – my plan’s not gonna bring about economic disaster - we already have economic disaster from John McCain’s president George W. Bush, and we can’t afford another four years or eight years of George Bush policies, and that’s why we are gonna beat John McCain in this election to put America on a new path,” he said.

Just a few minutes later when Obama opened the floor open to questions, one of his own supporters turned downright negative when he ridiculed McCain’s service to the country in Vietnam, and made light of his time as a POW. “Now everything that he talks about is how much he suffered, he was the fattest prisoner that got off the plane,” the man said.

Before responding to the man’s concerns about the economy, Obama took a moment to denounce the man’s comments. Addressing the man, Obama said, “Respectfully I’m gonna disagree with you when it comes to McCain and his service. I think his policies are terrible, I think his service was honorable and I think he deserves respect for that,” Obama said.

“But, I think your general point about his policies though are absolutely right. I mean, look, John McCain wants to present himself as a maverick, right? He always says, ‘I’m a maverick, I’m a maverick, I’m a maverick.’ Let me tell you something, every single one of his top people are all lobbyists for the very special interests that have been dominating Washington all these years,” he continued, showing he’s still willing to put up a fight.

HARRISBURG, PA — Reacting for the first time to comments made by Retired Gen. Wes Clark Sunday questioning his military service, Sen. McCain told reporters today that the remarks are not “isolated” and distract Americans from the issues.

“I think that that kind of thing is unnecessary. I am proud of my record of service. I have plenty of friends and leaders who will attest to that,” McCain said at a press conference in Harrisburg, PA. “If that’s the kind of campaign that Senator Obama and his surrogates and his supporters want to wage, I understand that,
but it doesn’t reduce the price of a gallon of gas by one penny, it doesn’t achieve our energy independence-make it come any closer….I intend to, in this campaign to discuss challenges we face, things like the Lexington Project, and many other proposals and ideas and a plan of action that I have to help the families of this nation.”

In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Clark attacked McCain’s military record by noting that “he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” and that his Navy squadron “wasn’t a wartime squadron.”

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president,” Clark added.

While the McCain campaign is usually very quick to pounce on any comments that seem to denigrate McCain’s service, the presumptive GOP nominee would not bite when asked if Obama needed to personally condemn the Clark attack. Instead, surrogates are coming to McCain’s side in condemning the Clark remark.

The campaign held a conference call with a handful of supporters who attacked the Clark remark and former Presidential candidate and veteran Bob Dole issued a statement today noting that Clark “should have stayed in bed Sunday morning.”

“The attack by General Wesley Clark on Senator John McCain’s war record and qualifications for the presidency is beyond comprehension. Clark’s absurd remarks signal further erosion in our nation’s political discourse. He should have stayed in bed Sunday morning,” Dole said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that a former General who ran for the presidency on his own war record thinks it appropriate to attack a distinguished veteran and former prisoner-of-war in this way.”

However, just as McCain was speaking to reporters, Obama seemed to implicitly condemn the Clark comments in a speech today when he said that “no one should ever devalue (military) service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides. We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period. Full stop.”

As he prepares to launch a “Service to America” biography tour next week, Sen. John McCain launched his first TV ad of the general election Friday, seeking to highlight his patriotism and career of military service.

Titled, “624787,” his military serial number, the 60-second ad will be airing in his neighboring state of New Mexico–a battleground state that Democrats took in 2000 and President Bush reclaimed by a slim margin in 2004.

“Keep that faith. Keep your courage. Stick together. Stay strong. Do not yield. Stand up. We’re Americans. And we’ll never surrender,” McCain says at the top of the spot. A narrator takes over and asks rhetorical questions about McCain’s devotion to protecting the nation and it’s liberties before declaring, “John McCain, the American president Americans have been waiting for.”  The ad includes footage of McCain as a POW in Vietnam being questioned by interrogators.

During McCain’s bio tour next week, he is set to campaign in key cities and places that intend to showcase his service to the country:

–Meridian, MS–naval air station where he served as a flight instructor
–Annapolis, MD–where he attended the Naval Academy
–Pensacola, FL–where he had flight training
–Jacksonville, FL–where he came after his release as a POW from Vietnam
–Prescott, AZ–where his AZ Senate predecessor and 1964 GOP nominee Barry Goldwater launched his general election campaign.

SCRIPT FOR THE MCCAIN AD AFTER JUMP…

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