Pensacola, Fla. ? President Bush mocked rival John Kerry’s stand on the Iraq war Tuesday and rejected the Democrat’s timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops as the Republican campaigned with Kerry pal and Vietnam War hero Sen. John McCain.

Seeking to shore up his support in the military rich, GOP-leaning Florida panhandle, Bush assailed Kerry on the dominant issue of the campaign as the incumbent made his 24th trip to the swing state that narrowly ensured his election in 2000.

“Now, almost two years after he voted for the war in Iraq, and almost 220 days after switching positions to declare himself the anti-war candidate, my opponent has found a new nuance,” Bush said. “After months of questioning my motives and even my credibility, Sen. Kerry now agrees with me.”

Bush added sarcastically that Kerry still had time to change his position: “There are still 84 days left in the campaign.”

In October 2002, Kerry voted to give Bush the military authority to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein — a vote he said Monday that he stood by despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. But the four-term Massachusetts senator added that Bush used the authority poorly, rushing to war with limited allied support and little thought to an end game.

“I’ve been consistent all along, and I thought that the United States needed to stand up to Saddam Hussein and I voted to stand up to Saddam Hussein, but I thought we ought to do it right,” Kerry said Tuesday. “I thought we ought to reach out to other countries, we ought to build an international coalition, we ought to exhaust the remedies available to us.”

Kerry said Monday that he hoped to begin reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq within six months of taking office if he is elected. “It is an appropriate goal to have,” he said, but he added that achieving it would depend on broader international assistance, better stability within Iraq and other related factors.

Joining Bush was McCain, the Arizona Republican who has come to Kerry’s defense on several occasions during the campaign. Most recently, McCain called on the White House to repudiate an ad that accused Kerry of lying about his decorated military record in Vietnam.

The White House declined.

President Bush greets supporters during a campaign visit in Pensacola, Fla. The president used Tuesday's appearance to criticize Democratic opponent John Kerry's stand on the Iraq war.

McCain was a POW in Vietnam for 5 1/2 years, and his maverick voting record in the Senate has won him support among some moderates and swing voters, especially during the 2000 Republican presidential primary. That background could help Bush, who served stateside with the Texas Air National Guard during the war.

“My friends, this president understands the challenge,” McCain told nearly 10,000 Bush supporters in Pensacola.

At a time when violence erupted anew in Najaf, McCain gave Bush a welcome boost on the Iraq war.

“It is a noble and just cause, and believe me: America, the world and Iraq is a better place for having been liberated,” the senator said.