McCain, Obama Argue Over War, Taxes in 1st Debate

OXFORD, Miss. — Senator McCain accused Senator Obama of compiling "the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate" Friday night as the two rivals clashed over taxes, spending, the war in Iraq, and more in an intense first debate of the White House campaign. "Mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's wrong-headed policies," shot back the Democrat.

Mr. Obama said his Republican rival has been a loyal supporter of the unpopular president, adding that the current economic crisis is "a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain."

The two men were polite but pointed as they debated at close quarters for 90 minutes on the University of Mississippi campus.

Mr. McCain accused his younger rival of an "incredible thing of voting to cut off funds for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," a reference to legislation that cleared the Senate more than a year ago.

Mr. Obama disputed that, saying he had opposed funding in a bill that presented a "blank check" to the Pentagon while Mr. McCain had opposed money in legislation that included a timetable for troop withdrawal.

Mr. Obama opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2002, before he was a member of Congress, while Mr. McCain voted in the Senate to authorize the war.

"You were wrong" on Iraq, Mr. Obama repeated three times in succession. "John, you like to pretend the war began in 2007."

Mr. McCain replied that Mr. Obama has refused to acknowledge the success of the troop buildup in Iraq that Mr. McCain recommended and Mr. Bush announced more than a year ago.

The two presidential candidates stood behind identical wooden lecterns on stage at the performing arts center at the University of Mississippi for the first of three scheduled debates with less than six weeks remaining until Election Day. The two vice presidential candidates will meet next week for their only debate, and Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain each put in a plug for his own running mate.

But there was a difference: Senator Biden made the round of post-debate television shows. NBC and CNN said they invited Mr. McCain's running mate, Governor Palin, who has granted only three interviews since joining the ticket a month ago, but she declined.

The 47-year-old Mr. Obama is seeking to become the nation's first black president. Mr. McCain, 72, is hoping to become the oldest first-term chief executive in history — and he made a few jokes at his own expense.

"I've been around a while," he said at one point. "Were you afraid I couldn't hear him?" he said at another after moderator Jim Lehrer repeated a phrase.

But he also sought to turn his age into an advantage. "There are some advantages to experience and knowledge and judgment," he said. "And I honestly don't believe that Senator Obama has the knowledge or experience" to serve as commander in chief.

Mr. McCain also made a point of declaring his independence from Mr. Bush. "I have opposed the president on spending, on climate change, on torture of prisoners, on Guantanamo Bay, on a long — on the way that the Iraq War was conducted. I have a long record and the American people know me very well ... a maverick of the Senate."

It was a debate that almost didn't happen. Mr. McCain decided a few hours in advance to attend, two days after announcing he would try to have the event rescheduled if Congress had not reached an agreement on an economic bailout to deal with the crisis now gripping Wall Street.

The two men were pointed but polite, although at least once Mr. McCain sought to depict his rival as naive on foreign policy. That was in response to Mr. Obama's statement that it might become necessary to send American troops across the Pakistani border to pursue terrorists.

"You don't say that out loud," retorted Mr. McCain. "If you have to do things, you do things."

He also criticized Mr. Obama for having said he would sit down without precondition with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"So let me get this right, we sit down with Ahmadinejad and he says 'we're going to wipe Israel off the face of the earth' and we say, 'no you're not.' Oh please," Mr. McCain said.

Mr. Obama said Henry Kissinger, the former Republican secretary of state and a McCain adviser, shared his view on talks with Iran.

The two men also differed on federal spending. Mr. McCain said a freeze on most government spending was worth considering, except for veterans, defense, and "some other vital issues."

Mr. Obama said the problem with that was that some programs needed more money. He mentioned early childhood education as an example.

Moderator Jim Lehrer's opening question concerned the economic crisis. While neither man committed to supporting bailout legislation taking shape in Congress, they readily agreed lawmakers must take action to prevent millions of Americans from losing their jobs and their homes.

Both also said they were pleased that lawmakers in both parties were negotiating on a compromise.

Mr. McCain jabbed at Mr. Obama, who he said has requested millions of dollars in pork barrel spending, including some after he began running for president.

As he does frequently while campaigning, the Republican vowed to veto any lawmaker's pork barrel project that reaches his desk in the White House. "You will know their names and I will make them famous," he said.

The stakes were high as the two rivals walked on stage. The polls gave Mr. Obama a modest lead and indicated he was viewed more favorably than his rival when it came to dealing with the economy. But the same surveys show Mr. McCain favored by far on foreign policy.

Both candidates had rehearsed extensively, Mr. Obama prepping with advisers at a resort in Clearwater, Fla., and Mr. McCain putting in debate work at his home outside Washington.

The two presidential hopefuls are scheduled to debate twice more, at Belmont University in Nashville on Oct. 7 and at Hofstra University in Hempsted, N.Y., on Oct. 15. Vice presidential contenders Governor Palin and Senator Biden are to square off in a single debate Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis.