McCain makes bid for big comeback
SCRANTON, Pa. -- John McCain is sprinting to the Election Day finish line, telling supporters in "blue" Democratic states Sunday that he is the better bet to revive the economy and protect national security.
During stops in Pennsylvania, which Democrat John Kerry won four years ago, McCain said he remains "a few points" behind rival Barack Obama in the Keystone State. McCain is seven points behind in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, but the GOP nominee predicted a historic comeback.
"My friends, the Mac is back!" McCain told about 2,000 supporters at a high school gym in Wallingford, Pa., near Philadelphia. He echoed the line hours later in another gym at the University of Scranton, urging supporters to make sure they and their friends get to the polls. "We can win, but we've got to fight for it," he said.
McCain's last day on the trail begins today at 9 a.m. ET, outside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' football stadium in Florida. From there, he heads to Tennessee, close to the Virginia and North Carolina borders; Pennsylvania; Indiana; New Mexico; and Nevada. He plans to end his second presidential bid with an event in Prescott, Ariz., the stopping point for his Senate campaigns.
"The purpose is to reach as many voters as you can in as many markets as you can," said McCain senior aide Mark Salter.
With the exception of Pennsylvania, McCain's final day will be spent in states that voted for President Bush in 2004. He faces tough fights in all of them.
McCain's closing arguments began and ended with proposals to help the struggling economy.
He said he wants to slash government spending, while Obama would expand government. McCain said he will cut taxes while Obama and a Democratic Congress plan to raise them.
"Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse," McCain said in Wallingford. "Taxing small businesses will kill jobs," he said in Scranton.
McCain also touted his plans to buy up bad mortgages, authorize new nuclear power plants, and expand offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. The last proposal on his list produced raucous chants of "Drill, Baby, Drill!" at both Pennsylvania stops.
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