ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama berated his White House rival John McCain Monday as an out-of-touch economic illiterate, hardening his attacks in the pre-convention runup to his pick of a running mate.
While the Republican again accused Obama of embracing retreat and failure in Iraq, Obama stuck to the pocketbook anxieties of hard-pressed voters and raised the rhetorical stakes before next week's Democratic National Convention.
At a rally in a sweltering high school gymnasium here, Obama mocked McCain for remarking at a weekend forum with religious leader Rick Warren that only those earning five million dollars a year were really rich.
Obama noted McCain's proud boast that he always put the country rather than politics first, a line that the Republican has used to lambast his opponent over the war in Iraq.
"But I have to say it's not an example of putting country first when you say (President) George Bush's economic policies have shown 'great progress'," he said, also noting that McCain says Obama would be a "disaster" for the economy.
"Mr McCain, let me explain to you, the economic disaster is happening right now. Maybe you haven't noticed," Obama said.
Warren had asked McCain and Obama separately at the forum in California Saturday to "define rich."
McCain, whose wife is a wealthy brewing heiress, said "I think if you're just talking about income, how about five million."
But the Arizona senator added that his comment would be "distorted" and stressed: "The point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."
Obama recalled the remark of McCain economic lieutenant Phil Gramm, who was forced from the campaign for calling Americans a nation of "whiners" over the economy but is now reportedly back as a key informal adviser to the Republican.
"This guy obviously does not pump his own gas, he obviously does not do his own shopping, he obviously does not pay his own bills," he said.
Referring to the Republicans after eight years under Bush, the Democrat said many Americans wanted to "throw the bums out."
"But American politics is never that easy. We've got to work hard, we've got to earn this election," he said.
Obama's economic offensive came after his return from a Hawaii getaway last week, with expectations high that he will soon name his vice presidential nominee.
He was introduced at the Albuquerque rally by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who is considered to have an outside chance of being named to Obama's ticket.
Obama did not comment on the feverish speculation, but did pay fulsome tribute to Richardson, a former energy secretary and UN ambassador, as "one of the finest public servants of our generation."
The Democrat heads to his coronation in Denver, Colorado flush with cash and seemingly fired up after his family vacation, although he was sniffling with a cold during his campaign events in the battleground state of New Mexico.
Both the candidates welcomed the resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf but McCain said that while Obama had enough "ambition to be president," he seemed to lack the "judgement to be the next commander in chief."
"In matters of national security, good judgement will be at a premium in the term of the next president -- as we were all reminded 10 days ago by events in the nation of Georgia," the Republican said in Florida.
McCain also highlighted his opponent's early opposition of a troop surge strategy in Iraq which Republicans, the US military and the White House credit with quelling violence.
"It was a moment when political self interest and the national interest parted ways," McCain told the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando, Florida.
"For my part, with so much in the balance, it was an easy call. As I said at the time, I would rather lose an election than lose a war," he said.
"Even in retrospect, (Obama) would chose the path of retreat and failure for America, over the path of success and victory."
Obama was scheduled to address the same veterans' conference on Tuesday, although campaign aides were keeping a nervous eye on the path of Tropical Storm Fay as it barreled into Florida.
His campaign team rejected McCain's claims on Iraq, accusing him of planning to keep US troops bogged down "in a perpetual occupation of Iraq" at a cost to American taxpayers of 10 billion dollars a month.
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