Obama Fires Back at Bush—and McCain

Barack Obama struck back at the GOP's leading lights today, saying he’d win a foreign policy debate “because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.” In his most extensive and direct remarks since the president suggested yesterday that Obama would appease terrorists, he lashed out at "dishonest, divisive attacks" and expressed shock that the Republicans questioned his credentials.

“They’re trying to fool you,” he said, “trying to scare you, and they’re not telling you the truth because they can’t win a foreign policy on the merits.” A McCain rep called the speech a “hysterical diatribe” and questioned whether Obama “has the strength, judgment, and determination to keep us safe.” (More Barack Obama stories.)