Gov. Linda Lingle's recent criticism of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to mainland audiences is uncalled for and is indicative of “;desperation”; within John McCain's camp, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie charged.

A Lingle adviser says the Democratic congressman is viewing the statements out of context and had not done his homework before calling out the governor.

Abercrombie held a news conference in Honolulu yesterday to defend the Hawaii-born Obama against comments attributed to the Republican governor during her recent campaign appearances on behalf of McCain and running mate Sarah Palin.

“;I'm here because I think Sen. Obama has been maligned,”; Abercrombie said. “;I don't think that's the way we like to do things in Hawaii. I don't think it's productive.”;

Lingle, using vacation days, stumped for the GOP ticket this week in Colorado and Nevada.

After speaking to volunteers in Colorado, Lingle said that “;Obama spent only a few years in Hawaii during his high school years, and that his claim of Hawaii as one of his home states is disingenuous,”; according to a report in the Greeley Tribune.

At a campaign stop in Henderson, Nev., the Las Vegas Sun reported that Lingle “;repeatedly framed the presidential election in terms of the physical safety of Americans and painted Obama as a mysterious figure who is uncomfortable with leadership.”;

“;We wouldn't be having this discussion,”; Abercrombie said, “;if the governor hadn't taken this approach toward disparaging Sen. Obama personally and indicating that the policy propositions that he's putting forward are somehow not something where we have a disagreement, but that there's actually questions of the safety of the country or the destruction of the economy.”;

Lenny Klompus, Lingle's senior adviser for communications, said Abercrombie had taken the statements out of context, adding that “;the governor's not pandering; she's just giving facts.”;

In Colorado Lingle was reacting to comments that Obama apparently made in jest to the Tribune, saying he understands issues of Western states because Hawaii is about as far west as it gets.

“;The governor said Sen. McCain is from a Western state—he's from Arizona,”; Klompus said. “;He's represented the state of Arizona for nearly three decades, while Sen. Obama has represented Illinois—Midwest—for most of his adult life and Hawaii is very different from Colorado.

“;It's too bad that he (Abercrombie) would try to infer or read between the lines instead of just reading the (newspaper) or watching the news and actually get what the governor said versus taking it out of context.”;

Abercrombie also criticized Lingle for announcing the elimination of the state's universal child health care program this week while she campaigned for McCain on the mainland.

Lingle's spokesman, Russell Pang, said the governor made the decision to end the children's health care program before she left for her latest campaign swing and that it was the state Health Department that announced it while she was away.