GOP presidential nominee John McCain expertly handled an unusually high number of interruptions while unveiling a new nuclear security policy his advisers say represents a significant departure from the Bush administration.

“The time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenals,” McCain said at a Tuesday morning campaign stop in Denver, Colorado—the city that will be home to the Democratic National Convention in August. “If you look back over the past two decades, I don't think any of us, Republican or Democrat, can take much satisfaction in what we've accomplished to control nuclear proliferation,” McCain said.

If elected president McCain said he would “reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number possible consistent with our security requirements and global commitments,” pursue a new nuclear arms agreement with Russia, talks with China and new limits on nuclear weapons testing.

He noted “I am convinced civilian nuclear energy can be a critical part of our fight against global warming.”

McCain also published a Tuesday op-ed with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I.-Conn.) in the Wall Street Journal Asia that said “American leadership is also needed with North Korea” to reach “complete declaration, disablement and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, in a verifiable manner.”

The Democratic National Committee responded to the op-ed by circulating a press release charging that McCain’s North Korea policy was “remarkably similar” to President Bush’s “first term rhetoric.” The McCain campaign rejected comparisons between Bush’s rhetoric and the plan McCain unveiled Tuesday.

Steve Biegun, a national security adviser to the McCain campaign, told reporters on an afternoon conference call that McCain’s speech represents “a significant departure from the nuclear security policies of the Bush administration, whether on the ultimate goal, whether on the openness to further testing limits, whether on the openness to further reductions, whether on the openness to engage in treaty-based discussions with Russia, on the openness to talk with China and support for international enrichment centers and spent fuel repositories.” Continued...