Article: Once derided as an idealist, McCain hands label to Obama ; Paints Democrat as an immature version of himself

CAMPAIGN 2008

WASHINGTON - John McCain's first broadside against Barack Obama, as a bearer of only "rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas," was grounded in a familiar critique: the idealist driven by ego and elevated by media coverage into a messenger for a purer brand of politics.

In his first presidential race eight years ago, opponents pinned that caricature on McCain. This week, he used it on Obama.

"He has run entirely on his persona being different. It's important that we puncture that myth," Mark Salter, McCain's chief speechwriter, said of Obama. "What we've got to get people to see is one guy is real and one guy is just a promise."

McCain has repeatedly pledged that he would ...

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