The Democratic phone call went on as scheduled. Graham said McCain had a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the bill he had voted against. Gelber said: "I don't know if he's simply out of touch or if he just doesn't care."
Then came the GOP call. Two Florida Republicans attacked Obama -- who as a senator from Illinois last year voted for the water-projects measure -- as a captive of big government and pork-barrel spending. Remarkably, one of the Republicans, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, acknowledged that he himself had supported the bill in question:
"I've worked with Sen. McCain on Everglades restoration as long as I've been in Congress. It's important to note that out of $23 billion in the water bill -- a bill that I supported, having to hold my nose because of the issues that Sen. McCain correctly points out -- only $2 billion was for Everglades restoration.
"I voted for it because I was being parochial. I represent the entirety of the Everglades. Sen. McCain, thankfully, doesn't play that game."
When McCain finally arrived at the Everglades, local advocates of the restoration briefed the senator on their efforts and the need for federal funding. The site of the briefing was an alligator wrestling pit.
John Ogden of Audubon of Florida told McCain: "We can't assume the [marshland] system is waiting for us to save it. It will actually continue to decline."
McCain agreed. Then after swooping around a portion of the Everglades in an airboat for 30 minutes, he attacked the Obama campaign for attacking him. He said the water bill authorized more than 900 projects but funded none, leaving that task to Congress' appropriations committees.
"That's the game in Washington," he said. "Now the appropriations committee can pick which one of those projects are funded. That's how you get museums funded rather than the Everglades restored. . . . I'm disappointed Sen. Obama has become part of the same old system."
Remember, Friday's back-and-forth was about a policy -- restoring the Everglades -- that both candidates endorse. This is shaping up to be a summer with a great many conference calls.
--
terry.mcdermott@latimes.com
