Presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain said he’s pleased with where his campaign and fundraising efforts are less than 100 days before the nation’s first primary.
Despite trailing front-runners Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney in fundraising and polling, McCain said, “I’ve never run a campaign based on money to start with … but most importantly, we have sufficient funds to do what we need to do, and the polls continue to show a pretty steady, upward tick.”
He acknowledged, though, “We’ve got a long way to go.”
The primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina and the Iowa caucuses will be do or die for any presidential candidate, McCain said.
“Since 1980, the person who has won two of the first three, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, has been the nominee of their party,” the senator said. “I see no change in that now.
“I think it’s vital for me, I think it’s vital for every candidate who’s seeking their party’s nomination.”
McCain said his campaign is concentrating on town hall meetings — “retail politics” — and again has brought out his “Straight Talk” campaign bus that was so popular during the 2000 presidential campaign that he lost to George Bush.
“We were in much worse shape at this time in 2000,” he said. “There’s good turnouts at the town hall meetings. We continue to see increased support and increased polling.”
Raises $6 million in 3 months
His swing through Arizona comes a day after his campaign announced that he had raised $6 million in the past three months and has $3.6 million cash on hand.
McCain said he did not know how much his Arizona events were likely to raise, but called them critical because they tap into the heart of his political base.
McCain countered criticism that he’s spent too little time in the state and perhaps in the Senate on behalf of the state, saying he believes most Arizonans are proud of his presidential aspirations.
“We’re still confident that people understand what I’m doing and what it requires when you’re running for president,” he said.
McCain has been battling to get back in the top tier of Republican candidates after his campaign sputtered earlier in the year.
He remains far behind front-running Republicans Giuliani, Romney, and newcomer Fred Thompson in campaign cash.
Giuliani and Romney brought in $11 million and $10 million, respectively for the quarter.
Concerning key issues, McCain said he was the first candidate to oppose the Iraq war strategy employed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and that he consistently has advocated higher troop levels as seen currently.
“I don’t know if I can win the election based on my support for this strategy, which is succeeding,” McCain said. “But I can’t worry about that; there’s too much at stake. I’d much rather lose a campaign than lose a war.”
In wide-ranging remarks during a session with reporters, McCain also spoke about Blackwater USA — a private security contractor operating in Iraq to protect American and Iraqi officials that is under investigation after its guards allegedly killed innocent Iraqis.
Blackwater and other private contractors must abide by laws and not kill innocents, and should be reined in if needed, McCain said.
He took another swipe at Rumsfeld, saying that Blackwater’s presence in Iraq was the result of not having enough U.S. troops there in the first place. But he added that pulling more than 100,000 security forces from Iraq would “complicate the situation dramatically.”
National security is ‘the overriding issue’
He called national security and the challenge of radical Islamic extremism “the overriding issue,” noting it was not present during the 2000 campaign.
Other major changes now are that health care has become a more important domestic issue with millions more Americans now uninsured, as well as corruption in Washington, which has fostered “cynicism and lack of trust and confidence.”
He also said immigration reform remains a big issue, but debate earlier this year over unsuccessful efforts for comprehensive reform taught the less that the borders must be secured first.
Finally, he said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, “would probably serve his country and his party better” by stepping down as he had first promised to do. Craig said this week that he will remain in office despite a court ruling that left intact his guilty plea in a sex sting operation.