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Democrats are pushing back against yet another Web video that targets Michelle Obama for saying earlier this year that she is proud of her country “for the first time.”

The Washington State Republican Party released the video just as Barack Obama’s wife joined Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, on Thursday for a fundraiser.

The video was nearly identical to one put out by the Tennessee GOP in May. Like that video, the Washington one intersperses clips of Michelle Obama’s remarks with clips of Washingtonians explaining why they are proud of their country.

“These shameless attacks by the state Republican Party have no place in our politics. If John McCain is serious about running a ‘respectful’ campaign on the issues, he and Republican leaders … will denounce this tasteless attack ad and tell the state Republican Party to pull the plug on it immediately,” Gregoire said in a statement.

McCain’s campaign quickly distanced itself from the ad.

“Senator McCain has spoken out very clearly that neither spouse should be a target during this campaign,” McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace said.

Michelle Obama’s comments were made at Wisconsin campaign stops in mid-February.

There she said: “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

She later clarified that she meant she was proud of the way Americans are engaging in the political process, and she said she’s always been proud of her country.

Click here to see the video on Michelle Obama.

FOX News’ Mosheh Oinounou contributed to this report.

Barack Obama speaks about his Iraq war policies Tuesday in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)

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When Barack Obama embarks on his upcoming trip to Iraq and Afghanistan he will do so as part of a congressional delegation. But top aides for John McCain are casting his voyage as little more than the Obama world tour.

Campaign aides, though seemingly at odds with McCain’s personal view of the journey, described his trip to the Middle East and Europe as an unprecedented global rally that will have zero bearing on Obama’s policies as a U.S. official.

“This is nothing more than a campaign stop and a photo op for Barack Obama to highlight his candidacy for president,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds told FOXNews.com, arguing that Obama established his trip as political by declaring his foreign policy views before even leaving the country. Another aide called the trip a “rally overseas.”

“Everything about this trip indicates … it is about promoting his candidacy, and it has nothing to do with the security of the American people,” Bounds said.

The Illinois senator scheduled the trip following criticisms from McCain and his campaign that he had yet to travel to the war zones as a presidential candidate.

Obama’s trip is expected to be divided into two parts. He will travel to Iraq for the first time since January 2006 and to Afghanistan for the first time ever as part of an official delegation, paid for by taxpayers. He also will travel to other stops in Europe and the Middle East as a presidential candidate, paid for by campaign dollars.

Obama says he plans to meet with troops and commanders on the ground as part of a fact-finding mission that could influence his policies with regard to the War on Terror.

Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said Thursday that the McCain campaign should “stop worrying” about Obama’s travel plans and start correcting the damage from the “Bush-McCain” foreign policy.

“It’s clear that the McCain campaign is getting nervous about being on the wrong side of the Iraq debate. First John McCain wanted Barack Obama to travel with him to Iraq and the campaign used the occasion to raise campaign cash. Now, his campaign is calling Senator Obama’s trip a ‘campaign rally overseas,’” he said in a written statement.

The McCain campaign used some of its strongest language to date Thursday to criticize Obama’s visit.

“Let’s drop the pretense that this is a fact-finding trip and call it what it is — the first-of-its-kind campaign rally overseas,” McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told FOX News earlier.

McCain declined to label the trip an outright campaign stop when asked about his aide’s comment Thursday, instead saying he’d “let other people judge.”

“The fact is I am glad he is going to Iraq. I am glad he is going to Afghanistan. It’s long, long overdue if you want to lead this nation and secure our national security,” McCain told reporters.

He later said Iraq and Afghanistan “will not be a place for political rallies or politicization,” but that his European stops could lead to such a scene.

But the presence of election-year American politics may be inescapable. It was that presence that apparently set off concern among German officials, who are reportedly uneasy about a possible Obama speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate, close to where the wall dividing Berlin once stood.

Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, said Obama will need to avoid engaging in political bickering overseas — but that he cannot and should not hide the obvious fact that he is more than a U.S. senator traveling abroad.

“It’s impossible to separate those roles. I’m not even sure that it’s wise to do so. Everything he does now is as a presidential candidate. Everything he does will be interpreted in terms of what kind of president he will be,” Lichter said.

McCain attempted to leave presidential politics behind on recent trips out of the country, to Canada and then to Latin America. But while in Canada, he still took thinly veiled shots at Obama for his positions on free trade, and in Latin America criticized Obama as a flip-flopper — both on the plane to Colombia and in an interview with FOX News in Mexico.

Lichter said that regardless of the potential pitfalls, Obama has an opportunity to comport himself as a statesman — and a potential president.

“He will benefit from (his) popularity abroad, because the media images will show adoring crowds and other world figures saying nice things about him, and it will put him on the level of being a president,” he said. “Part of becoming a viable presidential candidate is convincing people to imagine you as president.”

That image will inevitably be fed by the entourage of media stars who are expected to be in tow once he reaches the Middle East. All three network anchors are reportedly accompanying Obama. The exact timetable of the trip hasn’t been disclosed publicly.

But Republicans are continuing to cast him as just another politician.

The McCain campaign unveiled an eight-minute video Thursday called “The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand.”

The video contrasts past and present statements Obama has made about troop withdrawal, the troop surge and other Iraq debates.

“You’re never wrong if you pretend you gave the right answer all along,” the video says.

The McCain campaign also argues that by laying out his foreign policy platform before he travels to Iraq, Obama is proving that he will ignore the advice of military commanders and that his Iraq strategy is “politically motivated.”

Obama has in recent days downplayed the role of Iraq in the War on Terror, stressing the need to track down terrorists in Afghanistan and prevent nuclear material from falling into the hands of nations like Iran.

He is standing by his plan to remove U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, despite saying recently that he may “refine” his policies after going to Iraq.

“This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize,” Obama said Tuesday.

The Democratic National Committee responded to the latest video on Obama and Iraq by releasing its own videos accusing McCain of echoing President Bush’s policies in the Middle East.

The McCain campaign is trying to “distract attention from John McCain’s real record on Iraq–a record of being inconsistent and being wrong, just like President Bush,” the DNC said in a statement.

FOX News’ Bonney Kapp and Mosheh Oinounou contributed to this report.

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NEW YORK — Former President Clinton said Thursday he is eager to campaign for Barack Obama whenever the Democrat needs him, but has not given any thought to whether he wants to speak at the party convention in Denver.

Relations between Clinton and Obama have only just began to thaw since Obama defeated the former president’s wife in the bruising Democratic primary that ended last month. Throughout that bare-knuckle race, Clinton had portrayed Obama as too inexperienced to be president.

Since Obama clinched the nomination, it has remained an open question as to what role Clinton would play in campaigning for him and how he could best be used at the convention.

Just weeks ago, Obama called the former president to ask for his help in winning the White House.

At a news conference on Thursday for work that his foundation is doing, Clinton said he had not thought about whether he would like to be a convention speaker.

Clinton said he had a “good talk” with Obama on the phone and is eager to get out on the road for the Illinois senator.

“I told him that whenever he wanted me to do it, I was ready, and so it’s basically on their time table,” Clinton said. “He’s got a lot of things to do between now and the convention, of which this is simply one, so I’ll do whatever I’m asked to do, whenever I can do it.”

Clinton was also asked whether he had spoken to the Rev. Jesse Jackson regarding the crude off-air remark Jackson made about Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a “Fox & Friends” news program. The longtime civil rights leader said he wanted to castrate Obama for speaking down to blacks.

Clinton said he had not spoken with Jackson, but added that Jackson was right to apologize to Obama for the comments. He also was a bit sympathetic.

“If all of us lived on live mics, then 100 percent of us in this room would be embarrassed from time to time,” Clinton said.

Will Bower is a co-founder of PUMA, a coalition of Democratic bloggers opposed to Barack Obama. (FNC)

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James McConaha is, by all appearances, a faithful Democrat — a former appointee under President Bill Clinton who aggressively campaigned for Al Gore and John Kerry during their White House runs. But when he casts his vote in the presidential election this November, it will be for John McCain.

John Martin, a staunch Republican who once voted against former New York Gov. George Pataki because he was not conservative enough, has founded a grassroots organization supporting Barack Obama.

Both men are part of breakaway groups of Democrats and Republicans who have found appeal in the opposition candidate. But as McCain and Obama try to win voters from the other side, questions abound over whether their numbers will be great enough to matter.

A Gallup poll released July 8 shows that 22 percent of “conservative Democrats” questioned said they prefer McCain, while 11 percent of “liberal and moderate Republicans” indicated support for Obama.

“I think it’s a relatively small group and very hard to say at this point whether their number will count,” Stephen Wayne, former president of Presidency Research, said of the Democrats supporting McCain.

For McConaha, co-chair of “Citizens for McCain,” a New Hampshire-based grassroots organization headed by Joe Lieberman to recruit Democrats and independents for McCain, the Arizona senator’s appeal rests on two factors: patriotism, as evidenced by his military record, and experience as a lawmaker since 1982.

“He’s really been tested,” McConaha said, comparing McCain’s military service record with that of John Kerry.

Other Democratic voters like Valery Mitchell, also a member of the grassroots organization, cited McCain’s maverick approach to politics as reason to back him.

“His appeal is that he marches to his own drummer,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think he’s anything like George Bush. He’s sort of like a vice president who does his own thing.”

“We all are agreed on one thing that we’re not going to be supporting Obama,” said Will Bower, co-founder of PUMA, a network of Democratic bloggers who oppose Barack Obama’s nomination. “A lot of us will vote for John McCain.”

Political experts describe the “McCain Democrats” as conservatives and moderates within their party who are most influenced by issues of patriotism, national security, immigration and the environment.

These voters are not the Reagan Democrats of 1980 and 1984 who swung their support from Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale to Ronald Reagan. In fact, the McCain supporters interviewed by FOXNews.com said they voted against Reagan and believe McCain’s appeal is different.

“These voters are people who are older, rather than younger, people who have less education, rather than more education, and people who make issues of law and order and national security very important,” Wayne said.

While Reagan touted his economic policies to win over conservative Democrats, McCain has relied mainly on issues of national security, supporters note.

McConaha and Mitchell said they are working to find Democrats who feel comfortable coming forward publicly to rally support for McCain — and the campaign claims that such outreach efforts are working.

“There are strong indications that John McCain’s message of reform, prosperity, and peace is resonating not only with Republicans, but with Democrats and independents in key states,” McCain’s spokesman Tucker Bounds told FOXNews.com.

Bounds cited McCain’s newly introduced Lexington project — an energy plan aimed at ending U.S. dependency on foreign oil — and his staunch support of the Second Amendment as examples of the senator’s appeal to some Democrats.

Last week, the McCain campaign released a 60-second commercial meant to both underscore McCain’s life as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and evoke feelings of patriotism.

“John McCain, shot down, bayoneted, tortured. … His philosophy: Before party, polls and self, America. A maverick,” says the ad, which runs on television stations in Washington, D.C., and is expected to be broadcasted in a number of swing states.

But political observers say McCain faces a major risk in aggressively courting traditional Democratic voters - one that might not be worth taking if he is to secure the presidency.

“The more that John McCain goes after left-wing independents and Democrats on policy ground, the more he will alienate his Republican conservative base,” said Christopher C. Hull, adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University.

“He is caught in a sense that George Bush in 2000 and 2004 was not,” Hull said. “He doesn’t have the instinctive trust of the base that allows him to reach out without being repudiated.”

Hull added that if McCain is to peel away Democrats from Obama, he must raise serious questions over the Illinois senator’s loyalty and experience.

“Where there are already questions in Democrats’ minds about Obama’s patriotism, John McCain can get them, and where there are questions about Obama’s experience, John McCain can get them,” Hull said. “But I am skeptical in the end that they’ll turn to McCain in this kind of year.”

Obama has already attempted to counter such efforts by defending his patriotism during a recent speech in Independence, Mo., and striving to win over Republicans once loyal to Bush.

“We’re changing the battleground field in this election,” Nick Shapiro, an Obama campaign spokesman, told FOXNews.com. “We’re aggressively campaigning in states that are traditionally Republican strongholds.”

And the emergence of grassroots organizations like “Republicans for Barack Obama” might be evidence that his message is resonating with some conservative voters.

“Obama is a pragmatic leader who works to bridge differences among people of different political viewpoints,” said John Martin, co-founder of the group.

“While both Democrats and Republicans have spent the last 15 years using wedge issues to mobilize the fringes of their parties, Barack has already worked across the aisle in making government better at serving the public good,” Martin said.

Wayne said Obama’s latest initiative to expand federal assistance to religious social service groups could appeal to some on the right.

“I do think Obama has a reasonable case to make for Evangelicals,” Wayne said. “But a greater question will be whether or not those Evangelicals even turn out to vote.”

Republican pollster Steve Lombardo added that Obama appeals to some conservatives, particularly those displeased with President Bush, because he built his platform on messages of change in policy.

“You’ve got a very dissatisfied electorate and a president with a 25 percent approval rating,” Lombardo said. “To some extent these Republicans are voting for Obama, but to a greater extent it’s because they’re voting against George Bush and it’s hurting John McCain. They want change.”

Lombardo added that, historically, more people call themselves conservative Democrats than liberal Republicans. But both candidates should continue to woo opposition and independent voters.

“The broader you’re constituency, the better. This is not a base election,” he said. “It really is about courting the middle and the other side. How independents go in this election will determine who the next president is.”

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WASHINGTON — What gets under Barack Obama’s skin? Criticism of his wife, Michelle Obama.

In an interview with Glamour magazine, Obama said attacks on his wife are “infuriating.” The likely Democratic presidential nominee blamed the conservative press for going after his wife as if she were the candidate.

“If they have a difference with me on policy, they should debate me. Not her,” Obama told the magazine.

Michelle Obama has been highly active in her husband’s campaign, appearing with him at events and by herself at other times in an effort to help tout his candidacy. She promotes his policy agenda at fundraisers and gives interviews to reporters in support of her husband’s views.

An Associated Press-Yahoo poll suggests Michelle Obama has higher favorable ratings than Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. However, Michelle Obama’s unfavorable ratings are also higher.

Michelle Obama came under fire in February when she said she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. She later clarified her remark, saying she has always been proud of her country and was particularly proud to see so many people involved in the political process.

Obama said the attacks are ironic because his wife is “the most quintessentially American woman I know.”

Michelle Obama, 44, has worked as a lawyer and hospital executive. The couple has two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

The Internet has been a double-edged sword for the Obama campaign. While it’s allowed them to organize supporters and raise millions of dollars, Obama said it’s also provided a vehicle for rumors and myths to spread quickly.

“It’s very hard to catch up,” he said.

Glamour’s editor-in-chief also interviewed McCain. Full interviews with both candidates were scheduled to appear in the magazine’s October issue.

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CINCINNATI — New York Gov. David Paterson and the NAACP have condemned the New Yorker magazine’s satirical cover depicting Democrat Barack Obama and his wife as flag-burning radicals.

Speaking Thursday at the civil rights group’s national convention in Cincinnati, Paterson said the magazine cover was one of the most malignant and vicious he’s ever seen.

The NAACP also released a resolution condemning the cover as “tasteless, Islam-a-phobic, mean spirited and racially offensive.”

The resolution says the cover plays on racial stereotypes and is highly inflammatory.

The magazine hit newsstands Monday. New Yorker Editor David Remnick told the Huffington Post Web site the cover was chosen because it had something to say.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday at the New Yorker.