Obama hits McCain for 'say-anything' politics

By Caren Bohan

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama criticized Republican White House rival John McCain for a "say-anything, do-anything" political style on Monday during a two-day tour to kick off early voting in Florida.

McCain told supporters in Missouri that "nothing is inevitable" and he could still beat Obama, who leads in national opinion polls as the pair began a two-week sprint to the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Obama was joined at a rally of about 50,000 people in Orlando by his former rival for the Democratic White House nomination, Hillary Clinton.

"In the final days of campaigns, the say-anything, do-anything politics too often takes over," Obama said. "We've seen it before. Hillary has been subject to it before.

"We're seeing again today -- ugly phone calls, misleading mail and TV ads, careless, outrageous statements -- all aimed at keeping us from working together, all aimed at stopping change."

Obama noted McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, told reporters on Sunday that if she called the shots she would end the automated phone calls being made by McCain's campaign, including some that link Obama with 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

"You have to work really hard to violate Gov. Palin's standards on negative campaigning," Obama said.

McCain defended the calls, shrugging off Palin's remarks in an interview to be aired on Tuesday morning.