WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- John McCain slammed his Democratic rivals' judicial philosophy and railed against "activist judges" who show "little regard" for the Constitution during a speech Tuesday at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

McCain focused much of his fire at Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, criticizing him for voting against John Roberts as U.S. Supreme Court chief justice -- and reaching out to the Christian right on one of their chief concerns: the proper role of judges in government.

McCain rebuked the Illinois senator for using "vague words" to justify judicial activism and maintaining standards that "proved too lofty" to vote to confirm the "brilliant, fair-minded" Roberts.

Obama voted against Roberts and Samuel Alito. So did Obama's rival, Hillary Clinton, but McCain focused on Obama.

"Somehow, by Senator Obama's standard, even Judge Roberts didn't measure up. And neither did Justice Samuel Alito," he said. "Apparently, nobody quite fits the bill except for an elite group of activist judges, lawyers, and law professors who think they know wisdom when they see it -- and they see it only in each other."

McCain, the eventual GOP nominee, promised to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts and Alito, saying they would interpret the law strictly to curb the scope of their rulings. While McCain didn't mention abortion, the far right understands that such nominees would be likely to limit or perhaps overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

McCain even turned a question around on Obama Tuesday when asked by a reporter about the continued conservative resentment over his participation in the "Gang of 14."

That "Gang of 14" was a group of senators -- seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- who avoided a showdown over judges by agreeing to preserve the minority party's right to block President Bush's nominees with the filibuster.

"(Voters) want us to work together and I think that was a demonstrable way of doing it," McCain said. "By the way Senator Obama had the choice of joining the Gang of 14 and chose not to -- chose not to. And uttered really the most remarkable statements, opposed Justice Roberts to be chief justice ... And then says he wants to work together."

Conservatives contend that federal judges have upset the constitutional balance of power among the courts, the Congress and the presidency by making far-reaching decisions, such as one in 2005 that let cities seize people's homes to make way for shopping malls.

"My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power," McCain said Tuesday.

Flanked by former presidential rival Fred Thompson and former Solicitor General Ted Olsen -- both held in very high-esteem by conservatives -- McCain outlined his judicial philosophy in a speech that sought to bolster his support on the right.

Obama's campaign responded that McCain would pick judges who represent a threat to abortion rights and to McCain's own campaign finance reform bill.

"Barack Obama has always believed that our courts should stand up for social and economic justice, and what's truly elitist is to appoint judges who will protect the powerful and leave ordinary Americans to fend for themselves," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The Arizona senator said his role models interpret the law strictly, paying attention to what lawmakers intended, as opposed to "activist" judges who, by striking down statutes or court decisions, make laws rather than interpret them.

Yet in the private property case McCain mentioned, the Supreme Court decided to defer to local officials rather than impose their own will from afar. Justice John Paul Stevens, in his majority opinion, wrote of the high court's "longstanding policy of deference to legislative judgments in this field."

McCain appeared confused about where he was for a moment Tuesday, saying, "I appreciate the hospitality of the students and faculty of West Virginia," then correcting himself to say Wake Forest as the audience laughed.

By speaking about judges, McCain offered an olive branch to the Christian right, which has been deeply suspicious of McCain.

Despite his rocky relations with the right, McCain's record on their top priorities -- cultural issues like abortion -- is very conservative.

While he did say once in 1999 that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, that amounted to a blip in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. McCain has repeatedly voted against federal funding for abortion and has opposed federal Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou and The Associated Press contributed to this report.