Crime On McCain Agenda, While Obama Focuses On Religion

Crime on McCain agenda, while Obama focuses on religion

McCain then travels to Colombia and Mexico

Sen. Barack Obama set to focus on faith, religion in Ohio

JULY 1, 2008
(CNN) --

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday is expected to tell law enforcement officials that he'll make sure they have what they need to fight crime before he flies to Latin American for stops in Colombia and Mexico.

Sen. John McCain will be the keynote speaker at the National Sheriffs' Association's conference in Indiana.

1 of 2 McCain is the keynote speaker at the National Sheriffs' Association's 68th annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The senator from Arizona is expected to praise those involved with law enforcement and describe action the government has taken to make cities safer. McCain will tell the officers that, as president, he would make sure they are equipped with the resources they need to fight crime, according to his campaign.

Following his address, the presumptive Republican nominee will fly to Cartagena, Colombia, for talks with President Alvaro Uribe and other top officials. After visiting Colombia, McCain on Thursday will head to Mexico, where the focus will be on free trade.

McCain is in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement that includes the United States, Canada and Mexico. He also supports the free-trade agreement with Colombia, which is stalled in Congress.

Speaking with reporters Monday, McCain said that his trade policies are more in line with those of former President Clinton than President Bush.

McCain said during his trip he planned to thank leaders for the good relations and for their work to combat the drug problem. He said he also wanted to encourage them to make more progress

"I would also urge them, in the case of Mexico, to reform their economy, to ensure that it's a more open and competitive economy," he said, adding that he would press them to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States.

"It would be so much easier if we had the ability to trust our neighbors to the south as much as we trust our neighbors to the north, in terms of border security."

McCain said he had no intention of criticizing Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

The McCain campaign blasted Obama on Monday after a military adviser for the Democrat questioned the relevance of McCain's military experience. Watch the fight over McCain's war record »

In an interview Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," retired Gen. Wesley Clark questioned whether McCain's military experience qualified him to be commander in chief.

"I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility," Clark said.

McCain's campaign called the remarks "the lowest form of politics," and Obama's campaign issued a statement rejecting what Clark said.

On Monday night, Clark tried to explain his remarks, saying he honors McCain's service, but while his time in Vietnam and as a POW "shows courage and commitment to our country ... it doesn't include executive experience wrestling with national policy or go-to-war decisions."

Meanwhile, a day after defending his patriotism, Obama is focusing on faith and religion in Zanesville, Ohio.

Obama has had to clarify false rumors about his religion, including e-mails saying he is Muslim and was sworn in to the Senate on the Quran.

Last week, Obama had to fend off attacks from the Rev. James Dobson, an evangelist who accused Obama of deliberately distorting the Bible and taking a "fruitcake interpretation" of the U.S. Constitution.

Obama said Dobson was "making stuff up."

"Any notion that I was distorting the Bible in that speech, I think anyone would be hard pressed to make that argument," Obama told reporters last week.