Democrats may be viewing the national catastrophe fund issue as a potential opening to help their presumed presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., gain ground against his Republican rival.

The Obama campaign criticized Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for his opposition and sought to tie him to President Bush as the presumptive Republican nominee traveled to Orlando to speak at a meeting of newspaper editors on the state.

"Once again, John McCain has made clear that he is much more interested in standing with George Bush than getting the facts right or doing what's right," said Obama aide Hari Sevigan, according to Capitol Hill publication The Politico. "But what John McCain doesn't understand is that by choosing to stand with George Bush's failed policies instead of standing with the families of Florida, he can't deliver the change the country needs and deserves."

In a conference call with reporters set up by the Obama campaign, one of the sponsors of legislation establishing a national fund, Rep. Ron Klein, blasted Sen. McCain's proposal to address the issue by reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"It's unclear to me how Sen. McCain has come to the realization that FEMA is the answer," Rep. Klein said, according to the Media General news service. He added that Sen. McCain appears uninformed or is "not speaking honestly" on the issue. The legislation, known as the Homeowners' Defense Act or H.R. 3355, sponsored by Rep. Klein and Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., has won passage in the House but has failed to move in the Senate. The Bush administration also has expressed opposition to the bill and has promised to veto it should it win Senate approval.

Tucker Bounds, a McCain campaign spokesman, fired back, calling it "disappointing" that Sen. Obama would use the issue to launch political attacks, adding "that's not 'change we can believe in.'"

Sen. McCain is opposed to the national catastrophe fund, according to Mr. Bounds, "not because he doesn't have serious concerns about the cost of insurance in Florida but because it ignores the need for private insurance reforms to broaden markets and protections against the cherry-picking of individual states."

In addition, Mr. Bounds noted that Sen. McCain has won the support of one of the national catastrophe fund's most ardent supporters, Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

"John McCain earned Governor Crist's endorsement well after Senator McCain had articulated his position on this issue, because John McCain has the strength, experience and judgment to lead," he said.

In addition, the Florida Democratic Party set up a Web site featuring a video criticizing Sen. McCain on the issue.

The video shows footage of Sen. McCain telling an audience at a Washington event that he campaigned against the national catastrophe fund in Florida and criticizes him for, among other things, voting against investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina and standing with President Bush on the national catastrophe fund issue.

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Obama, Dems Hit McCain On National Cat Fund

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