McCain says he'll test foreign enemies

Not vice versa

By Stephen Dinan (Contact) | Saturday, October 25, 2008

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Sen. John McCain on Saturday said he would "test" enemy countries when elected president, trying to turn Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s gaffe against the Democratic ticket.

"I'm going to test them, they're not going to test me," Mr. McCain told a crowd in Albuquerque.

Last weekend Mr. Biden told campaign donors in Seattle that enemy nations would concoct an international crisis to test Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama: "We're going to have an international crisis to test the mettle of this guy. I guarantee you it's going to happen."

Mr. McCain has seized on that as evidence Mr. Obama would make the country less safe, including devoting much of his campaign stump speech to responding.

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Mr. Obama has said Mr. Biden was just using one of his "rhetorical flourishes," but said he thinks either he or Mr. McCain would be tested by enemy nations.

Polls show Mr. McCain slightly trailing in New Mexico, which President Bush narrowly won in 2004 after losing it in 2000.

After a report Saturday that government computer accounts in Ohio accessed Joe the Plumber's personal information, Mr. McCain said that was worrisome.

"Does that mean Americans can't ask tough questions? Americans have a right to ask questions," he said.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday that Joe Wurzelbacher's driver's license or vehicle information was requested by accounts assigned to the office of Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department.

The Dispatch reported that several government agencies are investigating the requests.

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