defeat the threat by staying on offense and by marshalling every relevant agency of our government and our allies in the urgent necessity of defending the values, virtues, and security of free people against those who despise all that is good about us.” [Remarks at Conservative Political Action Conference, 2/7/08] McCain: Then-Senator Clinton Wouldn’t “Recognize And Seriously Address The Threat Posed By An Iran With Nuclear Ambitions To Our Ally Israel In The Region.” In a speech before at the Conservative Political Action Conference McCain said that Senators Clinton and Obama “won't recognize and seriously address the threat posed by an Iran with nuclear ambitions to our ally Israel in the region. I intend -- I intend to make unmistakably clear to Iran we will not permit a government that espouses the destruction of the state of Israel as its fondest wish and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess the weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions.” [Remarks at Conservative Political Action Conference, 2/7/08] New York Times: A Top Pentagon Official Accused Then-Senator Clinton Of “Reinforcing ‘Enemy Propaganda That The United States Will Abandon Its Allies In Iraq” When She Sought Detailed Plans For A Military Withdrawal. “Issuing a stunning rocket, one of the Pentagon’s top officials sent a letter to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this week that essentially told her that any outline of plans for withdrawing American troops from Iraq is tantamount to reinforcing ‘enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia.’ The letter from Defense Undersecretary Eric Edelman was in response to Senator Clinton’s request in May for the Defense Department to draw up proposals to get the troops out of the battlefields…The backstory, according to the A.P. and elsewhere, is that Senator Clinton, as a member of the Armed Services Committee, has been asking the Defense Department to develop a detailed proposal for withdrawing troops, which could be complicated, she said in May, and would require planning.” [New York Times, 7/19/07] TRADE MCCAIN ACCUSED THEN-SENATOR CLINTON OF BURYING HER HEAD IN THE SAND OVER HER OPPOSITION TO FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS Advocating Free Trade Agreements, McCain Said: “Senators Obama And Clinton Think We Should Hide Behind Walls, Bury Our Heads And Industries In The Sand, And Hope We Have Enough Left To Live On While The World Passes Us By.” “Opening new markets for American goods and services is indispensable to our future prosperity. We can compete with anyone. Senators Obama and Clinton think we should hide behind walls, bury our heads and industries in the sand, and hope we have enough left to live on while the world passes us by. But that is not good policy and it is not good leadership. And the short-sightedness of these policies can be seen today in Congress’ refusal to vote on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. When new trading partners can sell in our market, and American companies can sell in theirs, the gains are great and they are lasting. The strength of the American economy offers a better life to every society we trade with, and the good comes back to us in many ways -- in better jobs, higher wages, and lower prices.” [McCain Remarks on the Economy at Carnegie Melon University, 4/15/08] HEALTHCARE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CRITICIZED HILLARY CLINTON’S HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR 2007: Mitt Romney Attacked Clinton For Proposing A Government Takeover Of Health Care. “There were some exaggerations and misstatements of facts along the way. Mr. Romney, for instance, spoke of his record in Massachusetts and said, ‘We solved the problem in health care in our state, not by having