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speakup

WASHINGTON - The Democratic nomination fight isn't over yet but Republican John McCain seems to have known for a while who he'll be facing this fall in the race for the White House.

And it isn't Hillary Clinton.

She's been getting off easy for weeks while McCain has focused more and more of his attacks on Barack Obama.

And they're getting steadily sharper as Obama gets closer to becoming the nominee.

It would be a matchup of striking contrasts - young versus old, black and white, a newcomer and a veteran who differ dramatically on crucial issues like Iraq, the economy and health care.

For McCain, there's the substantial baggage of running after two terms of George W. Bush, who's more unpopular than any other modern president.

A vicious whisper campaign that labelled him an unstable adulterer helped kill McCain's bid to beat Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000.

And the longtime Arizona senator has declared he won't get nasty.

"My husband is absolutely opposed to any negative campaigning at all," his wife Cindy told NBC on Thursday.

"We'd rather not win than have to do that. That's not worth winning."

Indeed, McCain was quick to disagree last month with the North Carolina Republican party when it announced it would try to win a governor's race by portraying the Democratic candidates as allies of an "extreme" Obama.

The state party's TV ads used snippets of sermons from Obama's controversial ex-pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright to make its case.

And McCain denounced a radio talk show host in February who repeatedly used Obama's middle name - Hussein - and called him a "hack, Chicago-style" politician.

"It is a sign that if there is a McCain-Obama general election, it can be intensely competitive but the candidates will attempt to keep it respectful and focused on the issues," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said back then.

But Obama took offence Thursday at what he called "smear" tactics from McCain, who suggested his rival would be less forceful with terrorists like Hamas if he makes it to the Oval Office.

"I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president," said McCain. "If Senator Obama is favoured by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly."