WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday he would take no lectures from Republicans on which candidate would keep the U.S. safer, a rebuke to Sen. John McCain's aides who said the Democrat was naive about terrorism.

"These are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," Obama told reporters aboard his campaign plane. "This is the same kind of fear-mongering that got us into Iraq ... and it's exactly that failed foreign policy I want to reverse."

The day's debate echoed the 2004 presidential campaign in which President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans claimed that Democratic nominee John Kerry was soft on terror. Democrats complained that the GOP was using the politics of fear.

The Republican argument proved less effective in 2006 when then-Bush adviser Karl Rove said the Democrats had a pre-Sept. 11 view of the world and Republicans had a post-Sept. 11 perspective. In November of that year, Democrats captured enough congressional seats to take control of the House and Senate.

MCCAIN HITS BUMP ON WINDFALL PROFITS

HOUSTON — Republican Sen. John McCain called for a clean break from Bush administration energy policies yesterday, then pivoted to accuse campaign rival Barack Obama of supporting recycled measures that failed in the past

"Tax relief just isn't change he can believe in," said the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, mocking his opponent's campaign slogan.

McCain's bid to chart a middle course on a major issue hit a bump, though, when he criticized Obama for proposing an oil windfall profits tax despite saying last month he would consider the same proposal.

In a speech in Texas, McCain said the United States needs more oil than during the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, yet produces less. Now, he said, a single successful terror attack at an oil installation could plunge the country into an "economic crisis of monumental proportions."

With President Bush's poll ratings at historically low levels, McCain often emphasizes his differences with the administration, and he coupled his speech with the release of a new television commercial drawing attention to his call for cutting back on the pollutants that cause global warming.

McCain included little in the way of new proposals in his speech. He called for reform of laws governing the oil futures trading market, and drew a standing ovation when he repeated his day-old support for an end to the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling. He favors allowing states to decide whether to explore offshore waters.

DEMS WANT FEC PROBE OF MCCAIN

WASHINGTON — Democratic Party officials plan to file a new lawsuit to compel federal regulators to investigate whether John McCain violated election laws by withdrawing from public financing.

The Democratic National Committee announced yesterday it will sue next week in U.S. District Court. It will ask the court to order the Federal Election Commission to examine, within 30 days, the legality of McCain's decision to reject $5.8 million in taxpayer funds.

By turning down the money, the presumed Republican nominee was able avoid strict spending limits between now and the GOP's national convention in September.

At issue is a $4 million line of credit McCain's campaign obtained late last year. While the loan was not secured by the promise of public funds, his agreement with the bank required McCain to reapply for public funds if he lost early primary contests and to use that money as collateral.

OBAMA PROMISES TUITION TAX CREDIT

TAYLOR, Mich. — Democrat Barack Obama recalled paying off his own mountain of student loan debt and promised struggling college students yesterday that he would help them.

Obama said he would give students a $4,000 tax credit to help pay tuition and fees in exchange for 100 hours of community service. The campaign said the program would cost $10 billion a year.

"You get a hand living your dreams, and then you help your fellow citizens live theirs," the Illinois senator told a group of students in a courtyard at Wayne County Community College.