Obama, McCain Rally Support With Patriotic Spirit

President Barack Obama points to members of his family and friends as he walks across to Marine One...

President Barack Obama points to members of his family and friends as he walks across to Marine One helicopter before his departure from Ft. McNair in Washington, Friday, July 3, 2009. Obama is traveling to Camp David to join his family and returning tomorrow to the White House. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(AP)

"Today, we stand with the millions of Iranians who brave batons, imprisonment and gunfire to have their voices heard and their votes counted," McCain said. "They do not ask us to arm them or come to their assistance with anything other than public declarations of solidarity, and public denunciations of the tyrants who oppress them. We have a moral obligation to do so."

Iran's leadership has tried to erase doubts about the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by portraying the unrest as sparked by foreign meddling. Protesters say the June 12 election was fraudulent.

Obama has tried to balance being supportive of the protesters without giving the Tehran government more cause to crack down.

Republican lawmakers have pushed the president to more forcefully denounce Iran's leadership, and McCain kept at it.

On the domestic front, Obama said some critics of his programs "would have us try what has already failed.'

But he said they need to remember history.

"They forget that we, as a people, did not get here by standing pat in a time of change," he said. "We did not get here by doing what was easy. That is not how a cluster of 13 colonies became the United States of America."

"We are not a people who fear the future. We are a people who make it," Obama said. "And on this July Fourth, we need to summon that spirit once more."

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On the Net:

Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

McCain address: http://www.youtube.com/user/gopweeklyaddress

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