Having clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, next up for Sen. John McCain will be convincing a public that is craving change to keep a Republican in the White House in the midst of a drawn-out Iraq war and a sluggish economy.
Several factors further complicate McCain’s run.
Approaching 72, McCain would be the oldest president ever elected and is certain to face doubts and questions that come with that distinction. His offbeat humor and occasional temper can be grating to even those who know him best. And his habit of breaking with the GOP to work with those across the aisle irks the conservative wing of the party that he’ll need in the fall.
The new GOP standard-bearer insisted Tuesday he’s undeterred.
“I, frankly, like where I am,” McCain said. “I do not try to understate in any way the magnitude of the challenge we face. But I’m confident that we can present the choices in such a way that we can win.”
People, he says, will have a choice between a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat — a signal that the coming months will be framed primarily by ideology as he casts his Democratic rivals as big-government, soft-on-security liberals.
Campaigning in Texas, the Arizona senator told reporters he will “await the outcome” on the Democratic nominee battle. But in his victory speech Tuesday at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, McCain made it clear that he will begin immediately to make his case that the country cannot afford to have either Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York or Barack Obama of Illinois as president.
“I will leave it to my opponent to argue that we should abrogate trade treaties, and pretend the global economy will go away and Americans can secure our future by trading and investing only among ourselves,” he told a screaming crowd.
He also focused on terrorism and the Iraq war.
“America is at war in two countries and involved in a long and difficult fight with violent extremists who despise us, our values and modernity itself,” McCain said. “It is of little use to Americans for their candidates to avoid the many complex challenges of these struggles by re-litigating decisions of the past.”
Republican voters who cast ballots in Texas and Ohio, the two biggest contests, overwhelmingly supported McCain. He won easily among independents, men and women, and those of all ages.
But several groups of voters continued to express their dislike of McCain. Evangelicals and Texans who call themselves “very conservative” voted for Huckabee in greater numbers than for McCain. The senator also lost among people who said their top issue was making sure the candidate shared their values.
Looking toward the long march to November, McCain acknowledged that he will need to raise more money and find a way to pull together a Republican Party whose splits have been revealed in the primaries, with underfunded Mike Huckabee winning a string of unlikely victories.
“We have a lot of work to do to unite our party and to energize it,” said McCain, who heads to Palm Beach, Fla., to begin a swing dominated by intensive fundraising.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
