ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. -- — John McCain ramped up his criticism of rival Mitt Romney Saturday, charging him with favoring a withdrawal from Iraq last spring and asking him to apologize to U.S. troops for those comments.
For his part, Romney accused McCain of being dishonest in representing Romney's position; he also asked for an apology.
McCain's new offensive came on a day when he landed a coup his advisors hope will tip Florida into his column in Tuesday's primary -- the influential endorsement of Florida's popular Gov. Charlie Crist.
"He is a true American hero; he's the kind of man who will lead this country in an exemplary fashion," Crist told reporters at the Pinnelas County Lincoln Day Dinner at a hotel in St. Petersburg on Saturday night.
Alluding to the endorsement, McCain said: "It means a lot in this race -- let's be very candid -- it will mean a great deal on Tuesday."
McCain's attack on Romney's Iraq record earlier Saturday set off a furious exchange between the campaigns that underscored the stakes for both candidates in Tuesday's primary. Both campaigns believe a win here could create momentum to power one of the candidates through the 21 Republican state primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5 and on to the nomination.
The Arizona senator opened the skirmish by reviving remarks Romney made last April on ABC's "Good Morning America." When asked whether he favored a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, Romney said, "There's no question that [President Bush] and Prime Minister al-Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about," but added those benchmarks should not be a "public pronouncement."
McCain seized on the comment Saturday morning while visiting the Shell Factory and Nature Park in Fort Myers. Speaking to reporters after a crowded town hall meeting, he charged that Romney "wanted to set a date for withdrawal similar to what the Democrats have [been] seeking, which would have led to a victory by Al Qaeda in my view."
"If we surrender and wave the white flag, like Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton wants to do, and withdraw as Gov. Romney wanted to do," McCain said, "then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost in American blood and treasure will be dramatically higher."
Outside a home in Land O'Lakes, Romney told reporters that McCain was misrepresenting Romney's position on the Iraq war -- and asked for an apology of his own.
