Obama steps up attacks on McCain

Taking aim at his presumed Republican opponent in November even as he faces two more Democratic presidential primaries this week, Barack Obama attacked John McCain on Sunday on Social Security, lobbyists and foreign policy. He said that the Arizona senator would continue what Obama contended were the failed policies of President Bush.

The intensified criticism of McCain came as the Obama campaign signaled that it had shifted its attention to the general election, and that it considered the Illinois senator's bruising Democratic nomination battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton nearly over.

Sunday marked the third straight day that Obama criticized McCain by linking him to Bush, whose approval ratings have hit record lows. By putting a spotlight on Social Security, Obama also reached out to elderly voters, one of the voting blocs that has favored Clinton in the Democratic primaries and that Obama hopes to bring into his camp in November.

Obama drew a roaring crowd of 75,000 -- the biggest of his presidential campaign, and equivalent to one-sixth of Portland's population -- to an afternoon rally in a park along the Willamette River here. The size of the turnout served as a reminder that Obama is strongly favored to win Tuesday in Oregon, a state whose voters -- comparatively well-educated and liberal -- appear tailor-made for him.