BETHLEHEM, Pa. | Sen. John McCain went for the jugular Wednesday, casting his Democratic presidential rival as untruthful, “extreme” and unqualified the night after their debate offered no knockout punches.
Meanwhile, Sen. Barack Obama targeted his Republican foe for what he called his “George Bush policies.”
With no real blood drawn in a debate watched by a record-setting 63 million, both camps set out to do what they think they need to do for the final 27 days.
While Team McCain focused on must-win battlegrounds Ohio and Pennsylvania, Mr. Obama and running mate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. split up for appeals on a wider electoral map, hitting red Indiana and swing-state Florida.
Mr. McCain told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday that he thinks Mr. Obama “lacks the experience and the knowledge, and most importantly, the judgment” to be president.
Campaigning in Indianapolis, Mr. Obama accused the Arizona senator of proposing nothing more than a third Bush term.
“In last night’s debate, John McCain and I each had the chance to make the case for change,” he said. “But all we heard from Senator McCain was more of the same Bush economics that led us into this mess in the first place.”
The Illinois senator used his first post-debate appearance to stress the importance of resolute leadership to guide the nation through the economic crisis. Rallying 21,000 at the fairgrounds in a state that Mr. Bush won by 20 points four years ago, Mr. Obama also reprised his attack on Mr. McCain’s health care plan, saying that the previous evening revealed the Republican’s priorities.
“We were both asked whether we believe that health care should finally be the ’right’ of every American. I believe it should, but Senator McCain didn’t say that,” Mr. Obama said, adding that he thinks his opponent’s health care plan is “radical.”
The surrogates did most of the dirty work Wednesday, with Mr. Biden saying in Tampa, Fla., that American people are looking for steady leadership, not an “angry man lurching from one position to the other.”
• Explore different election-night scenarios with our ’Road to 270’ interactive electoral college map
Cindy McCain, meanwhile, blasted the man who wants to defeat her husband for voting against troop funding that didn’t have a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
“The day that Senator Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body,” she said.
Also raising eyebrows in Pennsylvania, Lehigh County Republican Party Chairman Bill Platt twice referenced Mr. Obama’s middle name.
“Certainly, Barack Obama can learn a thing or two from John McCain about what it means to be a patriot,” he said. “Think about [how] you’ll feel on November 5 if you see the news that Barack Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, is president of the United States.”
The comment prompted the McCain camp to put out a statement denouncing it as “inappropriate rhetoric.” The previous day, a Florida sheriff introducing Mr. McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, used Mr. Obama’s middle name while in uniform.
During Mr. McCain’s stop in the very blue steel country of east-central Pennsylvania, the Republican took aim at the political birthplace of his opponent as he told about 7,000 supporters that Mr. Obama “will try to distract you from noticing that he never answers the serious and legitimate questions he has been asked.”
“I don’t need lessons about telling the truth to American people. And were I ever to need any improvement in that regard, I probably wouldn’t seek advice from a Chicago politician,” he said at Lehigh University, drawing wild cheers.
Mr. McCain’s remarks about Mr. Obama were interrupted with shouts of “socialist,” “terrorist” and “liar.” At another time, a man in the bleachers shouted “No more ACORN,” referring to a group that registers low-income voters but is being investigated for voter fraud.
Mrs. Palin dismissed Mr. Obama as just “a guy who’s just tried to talk his way into the White House.”
“He’s not willing to drill for energy, but he’s sure willing to drill for votes,” she said, drawing cheers of “Drill, baby, drill” from the crowd.
Team McCain also dropped an ad asking, “Who is Barack Obama?” and labeling him with the National Journal ranking of the most liberal senator. “How extreme,” an announcer says before concluding he is “not presidential.”
Mr. Obama prepared a soft biographical television ad focused on his family and kept his remarks optimistic in Indianapolis.
“I’m here to tell you that there are better days ahead,” he told a raucous crowd. “This isn’t the time for fear or for panic, this is a time for resolve and steady leadership.”
• Joseph Curl, traveling with the McCain campaign, reported from Pennsylvania; Christina Bellantoni was with Mr. Obama in Indiana.
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