Obama Fiercely Defends His Patriotism

Video

Obama Tries to Answer Questions of Patriotism

Barack Obama is on a weeklong patriotism tour, trying to reassure voters about his commitment to the country. Obama says his own patriotism has been questioned for the first time during this campaign.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), a former Navy secretary and a longtime McCain friend, said he was "utterly shocked" by Clark's comments and called them "disrespectful." Retired Navy Adm. Leighton Smith added that "it is inconceivable to me that anyone could take a shot at Senator McCain's military experience. . . . General Clark is way off base on this one."

Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, who served in Vietnam and was later President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, said Clark's comments "may be part of a larger gambit" to undermine McCain's status as a war hero and an expert on foreign-policy matters.

"Senator Obama someday may have the good fortune to engage with foreign leaders or to become as well read as John McCain in history or national security affairs," McFarland said. "But it doesn't exist right now."

In a bit of irony, one of McCain's defenders was retired Col. George "Bud" Day, a fellow prisoner of war who appeared in the Swift boat ads that disparaged the military service of 2004 Democratic nominee John F. Kerry. Democrats accused McCain and Day of hypocrisy; Day defended himself and the ads.

"The Swift boat, quote, attacks were simply a revelation of the truth. The similarity doesn't exist," he said. "One was about laying out the truth. This one is about attempting to cast another shadow."

Shear reported from Washington.