Democrats accused John McCain of hypocrisy on Saturday for criticizing Democratic front-runner Barack Obama's stance on negotiating with US foes, as a likely White House battle between the two men heated up even before the Democratic nomination is settled. Obama, who holds what appears to be an insurmountable lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, had blasted President George W. Bush on Thursday for comments the Republican made in the Israeli Knesset. Bush had ridiculed what he said were calls by some to negotiate with Iran and other US adversaries remarks Obama's campaign interpreted as a jab at the candidate, who has advocated direct talks with Tehran. While the White House denied Bush's comments were directed at Obama, they nonetheless sparked a war of words in which McCain weighed in. The presumptive Republican nominee said Bush's warning raises the question of "why does Barack Obama.want to sit down with a state sponsor of terrorism." The Arizona senator, who has based much of his campaign on his national security and foreign policy experience, also charged that Obama was being naive. Bush's comments on Friday, made while he was on a trip in part to mark Israel's 60th birthday, appeared to be an unusual foray by the president into the political fight. By tradition, partisan politics comes to a halt when a US president is on foreign soil. Republicans increasingly see Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, as the all-but-certain victor in the fierce race for the Democratic nomination. He holds an ever-widening 1,900 to 1,718 delegate lead over Clinton, with 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination at the party convention in August.
