Obama: I Will Let No One Question My Love of America

Barack Obama hit back at John McCain today after the Arizona Republican suggested, in a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) convention in Florida, that Obama had put his political self-interest above his patriotism in opposing the troop surge in Iraq.

“Let me be clear,” Obama told the VFW crowd in his own speech there today, “I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America, so do you, and so does John McCain.”

Obama called on McCain to acknowledge the patriotism of both candidates and to restrict his arguments to matters of policy, rather than character.

“One of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can’t disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition…because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America’s national interest,” Obama told the VFW. “Now, it’s time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.”

McCain, echoing an attack he has made repeatedly this summer, told the VFW yesterday that Obama had opposed the surge to further his own political gain. McCain hinted that Obama had sought to trade victory in Iraq for victory in the presidential race.

“It was a moment when political self-interest and the national interest parted ways,” McCain said. “For my part