"The campaigns of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama sparred Saturday after Ed Schultz, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host who is known for his blunt criticisms of the Bush administration and the Republican Party, called Mr. McCain a “warmonger” at a fund-raiser.

Mr. Schultz, a conservative Republican turned liberal Democrat, made the remarks on Friday while revving up a group of Obama supporters at a $100-a-head fund-raiser at the North Dakota Democratic Party’s convention in Grand Forks. As soon as the Republican National Committee got word of the attack, it issued a statement criticizing Mr. Schultz and calling on Mr. Obama to repudiate the comments.

Later, Mr. McCain, speaking to reporters in Prescott, Ariz., said, “Mr. Schultz is entitled to his views.” But he added, “I would hope that in keeping with his commitment, that Senator Obama would condemn such language, since it was part of his campaign.”

Mr. McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said he had been clear about how he felt about war “and my experiences with it.”

Mr. Obama, of Illinois, was not present at the fund-raising event when Mr. Schultz, who has described himself as a “gun-totin’, red meat-eatin’ lefty,” made his remarks. The senator was elsewhere in the building and arrived only several minutes later, after North Dakota’s three-member Congressional delegation, all Democrats, had taken the stage. Senator Kent Conrad introduced Mr. Obama to a crowd of several hundred people.

Mr. Obama did not refer to Mr. Schultz’s remarks in a speech he delivered Saturday morning to an overflow crowd, estimated at 8,000, at the University of Montana basketball arena in Missoula. But a spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, issued a statement that distanced him from them while reiterating Democratic criticisms of Mr. McCain’s stand on the war in the Iraq.

“John McCain is not a warmonger and should not be described as such,” Ms. Psaki said. “He’s a supporter of a war that Senator Obama believes should have never been authorized and never been waged.”

Full:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin

John McCain was a P.O.W.? WoW! I never heard that before.

We're each entitled to our own opinions. IMO, McCain is too damaged, or stupid, to see any method for resolving difficult problems than force. Therefore, from his vantage, proactively addressing difficult opponents is best done with force/violence. In my book, that makes him a warmonger, even if he doesn't like the wars he walks into.

Way to go Ed!