Reid links McCain to Bush’s ‘mistakes’

WASHINGTON -- Ratcheting up his role as a Democrat attacker, Sen. Harry Reid delivered another blast Friday at Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

In a Senate speech, the Nevada lawmaker repeatedly linked McCain to "foreign policy mistakes" of President Bush, and charged McCain promises nothing different.

"Our country deserves more than token shifts and lip service to change," Reid said.

Repeating his criticism that McCain's personality is unsuited for the presidency, Reid said: "Our dangerous world calls for leaders with sound judgment. Not those with a temperament prone to recklessness."

Conversely, Reid said Democratic nominee Barack Obama has "called the right plays" in recommending the United States return its focus to the war in Afghanistan and efforts to root out Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida network.

"Obama and Senate Democrats stand for responsible change," said Reid, the Senate majority leader. The party will deliver "a tougher, more responsible foreign policy."

Reid spoke in a largely empty Senate chamber as there were no votes scheduled and most senators had left town for the weekend. An account of the speech published by The Hill on its Web site said Reid seemed to take his anti-McCain rhetoric to a new level.

Ever since the Senate returned this week from its summer recess and with just 52 days until the election, Reid has displayed a fierceness in establishing the Senate as a battlefront in the campaign.

On Tuesday, he veered a press conference into criticism of McCain's Senate attendance and said the Arizona senator "has done nothing" to change the country during Bush's eight years in office.

On Wednesday, he criticized the Bush administration's handling of Afghanistan, echoing Obama's complaint that the president's decision to send 4,500 more troops to battle resurgent insurgents was not enough to get the job done.

Some Democrats have been recommending that Obama step up the intensity of his campaign against McCain. One Senate Democrat said Obama and Reid do converse but noted Reid's criticism of McCain is nothing new.

Republican spokesman Bill Riggs on Friday said Reid's remarks show Democrats are growing frustrated.

"The Obama campaign revealed their desperation by using the 'speed and ferocity' of Harry Reid to launch baseless personal attacks on a largely deserted Senate floor," Riggs said. "This is a far cry from Barack Obama's politics of hope and change."

Reid's speeches this week "are nothing different that what he has been doing," spokesman Jon Summers said. "Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Senator Reid has been highlighting the differences between Senator Obama and Senator McCain for some time now."