McCain: “Tested” by ’63 Cuban crisis

Republican presidential nominee John McCain said that he was “tested” by the 1963 Cuban missile crisis. While speaking at a rally today in Pennsylvania, McCain emphasized his years of military service while also attacking his Democratic rivals:

McCain recalled being ready to launch a bombing run during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which (Joe) Biden said over the weekend tested a new President John F. Kennedy and was the template for the kind of "generated crisis" the 47-year-old (Barack) Obama would face within six months of taking office.

"I was on board the USS Enterprise," McCain, a former naval aviator, said in the capital city of Harrisburg. "I sat in the cockpit, on the flight deck of the USS Enterprise, off of Cuba. I had a target. My friends, you know how close we came to a nuclear war."

As the crowd of several thousand began to swell with cheers and applause, he added with dramatic effect: "America will not have a president who needs to be tested. I've been tested, my friends."

McCain’s running mate also went after Biden’s remarks; Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claimed that an Obama administration would spark the sorts of crisis that Biden warned about.

In the meantime, a recently released poll showed that protestant Latinos are shying away from the McCain campaign. The survey of 500 Latino Protestant registered voters found Obama ahead of McCain 50%-34% with immigration and abortion serving as their most important issues.

Image- AP (“Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, applauds as he appears at a campaign rally in Bensalem, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)”).
Sources- Guardian UK, CNN, USA TODAY