McCain, Romney lob accusations
In the run-up to Florida, the Arizona senator gives his take on the former governor's comments on Iraq. Vehement denials and demands of apologies ensue.
FORT MYERS, FLA. — John McCain dramatically ramped up his criticism of rival Mitt Romney today, charging him with favoring a withdrawal from Iraq last spring and then later called on 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.
Apologies were offered by neither.
McCain's new offensive set off a furious exchange between the campaigns that underscored the stakes for both candidates in Florida's Tuesday primary. Both campaigns believe a win in the Sunshine State could create momentum to power one of the candidates through the 21-state primaries on Feb. 5 and on to the Republican nomination.
In a sign the McCain campaign is worried about its prospects here, the Arizona senator revived remarks that Romney made last April on ABC's "Good Morning America." When asked whether he favored a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, the former Massachusetts Gov. 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."
This morning, McCain seized on the comment 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 Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw as Governor Romney wanted to do," McCain said, "then there will be chaos, genocide and the cost in American blood and treasure will be dramatically higher."
Romney told reporters that McCain was misrepresenting Romney's position on the Iraq war -- and asked for an apology of his own.
"I don't know why he's being dishonest," said Romney, who does not favor a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. "...It's fine for him to express his view on different topics and I know he's trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq," Romney said. "But to say something that's not accurate is simply wrong and he knows better."
McCain sharpened his attack several hours later when he raised the issue and mentioned Romney by name at a town hall meeting in Sun City. Noting Romney's request for an apology, the Arizona senator said "I think the apology is owed to the young men and women who are serving this nation in uniform that we will not let them down in hard times or good."
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's traveling press secretary, accused McCain of "peddling falsehoods" in desperation as the race heads into the final stretch.
"Gov. Romney has talked about having benchmarks and timetables against which we can measure the progress we're making in Iraq," Fehrnstrom said, speaking after a rally in Lakeland. "He has never advocated for the withdrawal of our troops, nor has he ever failed to support our mission in Iraq. To suggest otherwise is an outrageous distortion."
maeve.reston@latimes.com
seema.mehta@latimes.com
