McCain says pundits being fooled, promises victory

Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, her husband Todd, left, and Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., applaud during a campaign rally in Hershey, Pa, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008



U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) arrives at a campaign rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania October 28, 2008.


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McCain says pundits being fooled, promises victory

HERSHEY, Pa. – Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin told a Pennsylvania audience Tuesday that "it's wonderful to fool the pundits" and vowed to pull out an upset win over Democratic rival Barack Obama. "I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," said McCain, continuing his sharp assault on Obama at a noisy rally opening his campaign day. Palin defended the campaign's harsh attacks on Obama.

"Our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans," said Palin. "It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaigning to call out someone on their record."

Obama backers waving signs briefly interrupted the rally, a move Palin dismissed.

"When we get a protest like that I'm always tempted to tell security, `let them stay, maybe they'll learn a thing or two,'" Palin said.

The campaign day was complicated by wintry weather that forced the cancellation of an outdoor event in Quakertown. McCain headed to North Carolina and Florida before the day was over. Palin was heading on her own to other events in Pennsylvania after the rally in Hershey.

Sagging in polls nationally and in battleground states, McCain worked to light a fire under his supporters.

"Nothing is inevitable, we never give up," he said. "Let's go win this election and get this country moving again."

Most polls have shown Obama with a lead in the race for Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but McCain dismissed those surveys and urged a sprint to the finish.

"It's wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania," he said. "It's wonderful to fool the pundits because we're going to win the state of Pennsylvania."

Pennsylvania is the only state won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004 where McCain is still mounting a full-scale campaign. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are focusing heavily in the closing days on a few key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Virginia.

McCain continued to label Obama a traditional liberal Democrat seeking to redistribute the wealth.

"Sen. Obama is running to be redistributor in chief, I'm running to be commander in chief," said McCain. "Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful, I'm running to make everyone successful."

McCain also returned to the theme that he's the candidate who is ready to take office, seasoned by a military career and his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He brought up their differences over the Iraq war. McCain opposes and Obama favors a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.

"Have you ever heard the word `victory' pass through Obama's lips?" McCain asked backers. "My friends, we're winning in Iraq."

McCain hammered that message later in Fayetteville, N.C., a battleground with a big military presence, like nearby Fort Bragg.

"We need a president who has actually fought for change and made it happen," said McCain, warning of a dangerous world that he's best equipped to face. "The next president won't have time to get used to the office."

McCain argued his military career and prisoner-of-war background have shaped his life

"I've been tested, Sen. Obama has not been tested, I won't be a president who has to be tested," he said. "I've fought for you in places where defeat meant more than returning to the Senate."

While Palin has caused some headaches for the ticket, she's popular with the Republican base and she added energy to a rally before nearly 10,000 cheering backers.

"You are such a welcoming and patriotic state," Palin said. "I know we have many patriots in the crowd today."

Palin also predicted a tight election: "It's going to be a hard-fought contest and it's going to come down to the wire."

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McCain shows gritty determination in final week

Tue Oct 28, 7:08 pm ET
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gestures as he AP – Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gestures as he urges his supporters to 'stand …

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HERSHEY, Pa. – John McCain repeatedly implores backers to "stand up and fight" these days, showing gritty determination even as many indicators point to a Barack Obama victory and Republicans engage in fingerpointing typical of losing campaigns. "Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. And we never quit," McCain declares.

A week before Election Day, the Republican is an enthusiastic underdog with what advisers say is a deep personal belief that he still has a chance to stage an upset next week. He has come back from the brink politically and personally before, and they say, he's resolved to do so again despite steep challenges.

In the homestretch, he tells people to ignore the pundits who project an Obama triumph and the polls that favor the Democrat. He scorns Obama's confident air in the waning days as a premature "victory lap." He says the country deserves "someone who will fight 'til the end." And, he says a GOP victory is within reach.

Some GOP pessimists have suggested he follow the example of Bob Dole, who, once he fell well behind Democrat Bill Clinton in 1996, shifted his campaign from states with the tightest presidential races to those where his appearance could most help Republican candidates for lesser offices. But McCain has steadfastly focused on the closest presidential battleground states.

Even so, the very real possibility of a loss — and life after the campaign — has crept into McCain's latest pitch. "I have fought for you most of my life, and in places where defeat meant more than returning to the Senate," McCain says. Then, he adds: "I've never been the kind to back down when the stakes are high."

Public surveys show Obama leads nationally and McCain faces a difficult path to the 270 electoral votes needed. He's struggling to hold onto traditionally Republican states. In a troublesome sign, the Republican National Committee was forced to shore up support with TV ads in the often reliably GOP state of Montana and boosted its presence in West Virginia, which President Bush won.

Pennsylvania, which offers 21 electoral votes and hasn't backed a Republican presidential nominee since 1988, is the only traditionally Democratic state McCain now is going after in earnest. Some GOP aides say it alone may hold the key to a McCain victory. Democrats are doubtful.

McCain also is hearing an increasing number of prominent Republicans indicate they expect he will lose. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the latest. "We face the very real possibility of an Obama presidency," Romney said fundraising e-mail on behalf of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

At the same time, the blame game has emerged in GOP circles. Some Republicans have pointed the finger at McCain's chief strategist Steve Schmidt; others are rushing to his defense.

And, frustrations by Palin's allies over her rocky introduction to the public and by McCain's backers over the Alaska governor's unscripted moments spilled into the open through anonymous quotes in news stories. Senior campaign advisers deny a rift and attribute the griping of a few junior aides.

The Arizona senator's top advisers acknowledge the difficulties in pulling off a comeback, yet they insist McCain still has a shot and adamantly deny McCain is going through the motions.

"He'll close strong," said senior adviser Charlie Black. "He really believes he's going to win."

McCain strategists say private polls show the race tightening since McCain used the story of "Joe the Plumber" to criticize Obama's tax plans and Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden's comment that Obama will be tested with an international crisis to again label the Illinois senator inexperienced.

They note that national polls over the past week have ranged from a one-point Obama edge to a double-digit lead. And, they say a large segment of white working-class voters has been vacillating between McCain and Obama for months. They hope many persuadable voters break their way.

This week, McCain's events generated energy in conservative parts of Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday morning, McCain and Palin climbed out of their campaign bus in the home of the Hershey Bears hockey team and drew thunderous cheers although the arena wasn't filled.

McCain drew applause when he said, "I've been tested. Sen. Obama hasn't" and a standing ovation when he said, "I will bring our troops home with honor and victory and not in defeat."

The night before in Pottsville, Pa., several thousand people in a school district field house roared approval when McCain and his wife Cindy entered to the theme from the "Rocky" movies.

At one point, he said "If I'm elected," and then quickly corrected himself, saying "WHEN I'm elected president ..." The crowd went wild.