Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is selling himself to Arizona voters as the man “leading the fight against President [Barack] Obama” in the first ads of his re-election campaign.

In two radio spots released Thursday, McCain goes out of his way to bash his 2008 presidential foe and uses stark terms to frame his differences with the current president’s agenda. In the first, an announcer says McCain is in a “battle to save America,” with McCain himself claiming Obama “is leading an extreme, left wing crusade to bankrupt America.”

“I stand in his way every day,” McCain adds.