McCain visits Iowa political leaders
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DES MOINES — U.S. Sen. John McCain reached out to Republican state legislators Thursday and said he is the presidential candidate best prepared to win the war on terrorism.
“The transcendent issue of this campaign will be this conflict we are in between good and evil, between the forces of radical Islamic extremism that are trying to destroy America and everything we believe in,” McCain told reporters.
The McCain campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, pulled up to the Statehouse, on the second day of a swing across the state.
McCain, an Arizona senator, held closed-door meetings with Iowa House and Senate Republicans and greeted visitors who happened to cross paths with him and his entourage.
He said his campaign has the same spirit as when he ran in 2000. That year, he bypassed the Iowa caucuses to campaign in New Hampshire and mounted a serious challenge to George W. Bush.
“I’m still the same candidate I was, a little bit older, but still the same candidate,” McCain said. “We’re still having fun, still on the bus, still having town meetings in the same way we were before.”
Several Democratic legislators entered the closed-door meeting to see McCain speak, including Sen. Dennis Black, D-Grinnell.
This would have been unheard of in previous years, but Sen. Dave Mulder, R-Sioux Center, broke the ice last month when he walked into a closed-door speech by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
“John McCain is a hero of mine,” Black said, although he added that he will not be voting for McCain.
McCain said legislators voiced concern that excessive spending by Republicans in Congress contributed to GOP losses across the ballot, including widespread losses in the Iowa Legislature. He touted his record for budget discipline.
“I’ve continuously fought to eliminate pork-barrel and wasteful spending, and I have a strong conservative record,” McCain said.
McCain has been endorsed by Sen. Larry McKibben, R-Marshalltown, and Rep. Steve Lukan, R-New Vienna. Many other legislators say they admire McCain, but they have not yet endorsed a candidate.
McCain may have picked up some support from the Waverly-Shell Rock boys basketball team, which was touring the Statehouse before its game today in the state basketball tournament. The senator stopped to talk to the team on the floor of the Iowa Senate.
“It was pretty dang sweet. He seemed like a nice guy,” Ben Schreen, a senior at Waverly-Shell Rock, said.
Dan Gearino can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or dan.gearino@lee.net.
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