(adds further quotes from speech)

By Jeff Mason

KENNER, La., June 3 (Reuters) - Republican John McCain launched his November election campaign for the White House on Tuesday with a searing attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama and a pledge to break with the energy policies of the Bush administration.

Declaring the primary season over, McCain, an Arizona senator who has wrapped up his party's presidential nomination, sought to grab part of the spotlight from Obama on a night when the Illinois senator became the first black to lead a major U.S. party's presidential ticket.

"He is an impressive man, who makes a great first impression," McCain said of Obama, speaking before an audience of some 600 people in a venue near New Orleans.

"But he hasn't been willing to make the tough calls, to challenge his party, to risk criticism from his supporters to bring real change to Washington. I have."

McCain said he was the right person to bring about change -- taking on a mantle that his rival Illinois senator has made into a rallying cry.

"You know, I have a few years on my opponent, so I am surprised that a young man has bought in to so many failed ideas," McCain, 71, said, highlighting Obama's relative youth at 46 and slamming his policy proposals.

"The American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they're just getting to know Senator Obama," McCain said.

"They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They've seen me put our country before any president, before any party, before any special interest, before my own interest."

McCain sought to distance himself somewhat from President George W. Bush, however, criticizing the administration's initial handling of the war in Iraq and promising a new energy policy to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NOD TO CLINTON

"The next president must be willing to break completely with the energy policies not just of the Bush administration, but the administrations that preceded his, and lead a great national campaign to put us on a course to energy independence," McCain said to applause.

The administration preceding Bush was that of Democrat Bill Clinton.

"No problem is more urgent today than America's dependence on foreign oil," he said, adding that the problem threatened the U.S. economy, its security and the environment.

Obama has repeatedly tied McCain to Bush, but the Arizona senator turned the argument around, saying Obama had voted for an energy bill promoted by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. McCain did not vote for the bill.

McCain also cited his plan to cut emissions and fight global warming as another area in which he has broken from Bush.

"If America is going to achieve energy independence, we need a president with a record of putting the nation's interests before the special interests of either party," McCain said. "I have that record. Senator Obama does not."

Both Obama and McCain have put forward plans that would cap U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and create an emissions trading system for factories and other big polluters. Obama has said his plan would be more effective than McCain's.

McCain, who has struggled for attention while the electorate focused on the Democratic duel between Obama and Hillary Clinton, also tipped his hat to the former first lady, with comments aimed to her women supporters, some of whom have said they would support McCain rather than Obama.

"She deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received," McCain said of Clinton.

"As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach. I am proud to call her my friend."

(Editing by David Wiessler)

AlertNet news is provided by