McCain takes swipe at Obama for Berlin speech

By Jeff Mason

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican John McCain said on Thursday he would like to give a speech in Germany as U.S. president not as a White House candidate, taking a swipe at rival Barack Obama while the Democrat gave a major address in Berlin.

"I'd love to give a speech in Germany ... a political speech or a speech that maybe the German people would be interested in, but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate ... for the office of presidency," McCain told reporters in Ohio.

Standing in front of a store in a neighbourhood known as German Village, McCain -- for whom foreign policy is considered a strength -- said he would focus on issues at home while his opponent travelled abroad.

"We're going to be campaigning across the heartland of America and talking about the issues that are challenging America today," he said.

Obama drew a crowd estimated by one local official at 200,000 in Berlin's Tiergarten Park, where he urged Europe to stand by the United States in bringing stability to Afghanistan and confronting other threats from climate change to nuclear proliferation.

Republicans have scoffed at Obama's high profile speech, which German media has compared to President John Kennedy's famous 1963 "Ich bin ein Berliner" address.

"Ich bin ein Hypocrite," the Republican party chided in a statement, criticizing Obama for what it called a lack of leadership on Afghanistan in a congressional committee he chairs. "Ich bin" means "I am" in German.

McCain, who had a bratwurst for lunch, said he already knew many of the European leaders with whom Obama was scheduled to hold talks on a trip designed to bolster the Illinois senator's foreign policy credentials.