McCain's ex-rivals throw out the red meat

Three men who once challenged John McCain for the GOP's presidential nomination used their campaign 2008 swansongs to criticize Democratic Barack Obama.

-Former Massachuetts Gov. Mitt Romney contrasted Obama's vision with McCain's.

"The right course is the one championed by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago, and by John McCain today," he said in a prepared text released in advance. "It is to rein in government spending and lower taxes, for taking a weed-whacker to excessive regulation and mandates, for putting a stop to tort windfalls, and to stand up to the Tyrannosaurus appetite of government unions."

-Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee accused Obama of lacking critical experience and judgment in foreign policy.

"Maybe the most dangerous threat of an Obama presidency is that he would continue to give madmen the benefit of the doubt. If he's wrong just once, we will pay a heavy price," said Huckabee's text.

-Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in a keynote address called "Wrong Reforms & Wrong Reason," cast the Republican Party as "the party that expands freedom."

An advance text of his remarks said: "We began as a party dedicated to freeing people from slavery and we are still the party that is willing to fight for freedom at home and around the world. We are the party that wants to expand individual freedom and economic freedom because we believe that the secret of America's success is not central government, it is self-government."