LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Republican John McCain was confronted Thursday about why he opposed an Everglades restoration measure that had broad support from Florida officials, including Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and GOP Sen. Mel Martinez.

McCain also drew criticism from Democratic rival Barack Obama for opposing another Florida priority, a national hurricane insurance fund.

Both issues are meaningful to Florida, a hotly contested state in presidential races because of its rich trove of electoral votes. In both instances, McCain sided against Florida officials and with President Bush, while Obama went the other way.

McCain said he couldn't support the Everglades measure because it was part of a massive, pork-barrel spending bill last year. The Arizona senator is a crusader against wasteful spending, a cause that helped push him to national prominence.

But he said he would have supported the measure on its own. He planned a boat tour Friday of the Everglades, the largest wetlands in North America and a fragile ecosystem with three dozen threatened or protected species. Its restoration is a politically charged issue in Florida.

"I am committed to saving the Everglades," McCain insisted to a convention of Florida newspaper editors. "I will do whatever is necessary to do so, and I have made that clear to the rest of the delegation."

The $2 billion restoration plan was backed by Crist and Martinez, key Republican supporters 't deliver the change the country needs and deserves."

McCain has said he would instead bring industry and government together to protect homeowners. His spokesman, Tucker Bounds, said Thursday that the government-run fund would ignore the need for reforms of the private insurance market to make sure everyone can get coverage.