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McCain: GOP Can't Write Off California
Republican presidential candidate John McCain emerged from a fundraising breakfast with Central California officials Monday vowing to focus on fighting meth and supporting farmers, two topics that top the list of concerns in the state's burgeoning interior. Long ignored by presidential candidates, the San Joaquin Valley has been gaining political notoriety since California joined the handful of states holding early primaries on Feb. 5. And as the Republican presidential race tightens, candidates are increasingly jockeying for position in the conservative region, in search of early endorsements and cash infusions. "No Republican can write off the state of California in a general election," said McCain, speaking outside the Stanislaus County Courthouse on Monday. "The Central Valley is the most important agricultural sector ... It's also a good place to be a Republican, most of the time."
Story Continues Below In a departure from his usual campaign stops, McCain addressed methamphetamine and gang problems first and discussed immigration and national security only when asked. The Arizona senator is the second GOP contender to visit the San Joaquin Valley in the last two days. On Sunday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani visited the region for the second time this year, appearing at a fundraiser in Hughson, a peach-growing town 100 miles southeast of San Francisco. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also made a quick stop in the valley this spring for a reception with supporters at Harris Ranch, a spokeswoman said. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows leading candidate Giuliani holds a 17-point lead over Romney, a 10-point lead over Tennessee senator Fred Thompson and is about 8 points ahead of McCain. Local officials appeared pleased that they were invited to join McCain for eggs and bacon, and said they expected more invitations from presidential hopefuls in the coming months.
"The presidential candidates with the exception of Sen. McCain have been like Yetis. We've heard of them, we've seen the grainy photos, but we'd never seen one up until now," said Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin. "Now they move the primary up to February 5 and (they see) every vote is going to count." More than a dozen states also have scheduled Feb. 5 primaries, and many others are considering moving their contests to the same day. That's prompted several GOP contenders to focus on states that just switched to early primaries rather than participating in the nonbinding Iowa straw poll, a traditional precursor to the Iowa caucuses in January, political analysts said. Giuliani and McCain have announced plans to skip the August straw poll, essentially clearing the way for Romney to win the contest. "McCain is willing to bypass the Iowa caucuses in favor of trying to make a prominent entry in the states in the South and in California," said Don Jackson, a Fresno-based former political consultant for Republican candidates. "The Valley is a fairly conservative pocket, so I think Republican candidates think there are some votes here." McCain's California trip was scheduled to raise money before the second quarter fundraising deadline at the end of June. He had fundraisers in Sonoma and Vacaville on Sunday; Modesto, Sacramento and Atherton on Monday; and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Newport Beach on Tuesday. In Sacramento, the senator appeared with former Secretary of State Bill Jones. McCain said he was determined to fight for votes in California, although a recent Field Poll found the leading Democratic presidential candidates are well ahead of the Republicans in hypothetical matchups. "It's one-fifth of the nation's gross national product. It's diverse," McCain said of the state at a Sacramento news conference. "As the nominee of the Republican Party, I will campaign in California."
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race Inside Cover Stories
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