In the clearest indication yet of how he intends to confront Sen. Barack Obama on foreign policy issues in the general election, Sen. John McCain on Friday again portrayed the Democratic contender as being the favorite of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and implied that he would also be friendly with Iran, a Hamas ally. Speaking at a news conference in New Jersey, McCain said he believed that comments made by a Hamas leader approving Obama's candidacy were "a legitimate point of discussion," and he went on to accuse Obama of agreeing to negotiate with the president of Iran, who Wednesday referred to Israel as "a stinking corpse facing annihilation." He described that as "a distinct difference between myself and Sen. Obama."
Obama has not let the attacks go unanswered. On Thursday, he replied by saying that McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was "losing his bearings" and engaging in "smear" tactics.
"My policy toward Hamas has been no different than his," Obama said in an interview on CNN.
McCain's attacks are part of a broader effort by his campaign to depict Obama, the leader in the delegate count in the Democratic race for president, as inexperienced and naive on foreign policy in general, and soft on terrorism and its sponsors specifically. Throughout the campaign, Obama has also had to fight a related perception that his support for Israel is also weak.
But important nuances appear to have been lost in the partisan salvos, particularly on McCain's side. An examination of Obama's numerous public statements on the subjects indicates that he has consistently condemned Hamas as a "terrorist organization," has not sought the group's support and does not advocate immediate, direct or unconditional negotiations with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The McCain-Obama dispute about Hamas began last month, after Ahmed Yousef, a political adviser to the Hamas' leadership in Gaza, made complimentary remarks about Obama in an interview with WABC radio in New York.
After initially complaining that "everybody tries to sound like he is a friend of Israel" when out on the campaign trail, including Obama, Yousef shifted tone, comparing the candidate to former President Kennedy, "a great man with great principles."