Obama supporter and fellow Senator John Rockefeller made the following statement to the Charleston Gazette:

“McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet,” Rockefeller said. “He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they (the missiles) get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.”

He also made the following apology:

Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) called Senator John McCain today to apologize for his remarks.

“I have deep respect for John McCain’s honorable and noble service to our country. I made an inaccurate and wrong analogy and I have extended my sincere apology to him. While we differ a great deal on policy issues, I profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words,” Rockefeller said.

Senator Rockefeller’s remarks came during an interview in West Virginia yesterday. He was attempting to make the point that the next president must keep the focus on the needs of every day people. He is concerned that Senator McCain’s policies regarding access to healthcare, education, the economy and retirement security don’t put real people front and center.

Official word from the Obama campaign:

“Sen. Obama has a deep respect for Sen. McCain’s service to this country and he does not agree with what Sen. Rockefeller said,” Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor says in a statement he just sent us.