One-On-One with John McCain

Feb. 3, 2008 — -- Of all of the presidential candidates remaining in the race for the White House, Sen. John McCain's vibrant campaign may seem the most unlikely because last summer it was all but dead.

Yet, the Arizona Republican didn't allow money troubles and few resources to stifle his dream of becoming president and now his persistence has made him the party's clear frontrunner.

McCain's growing confidence has become increasingly apparent in interviews, and nationally he holds a large lead over his rival, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney. Privately, the McCain camp has said they expect McCain will do well enough on Super Tuesday to effectively wrap up the Republican nomination.

"I don't think there's any doubt that we got momentum on our side and I think we're headed in the right direction," McCain said. "But the key to it is, don't take anything for granted; keep campaigning hard; keep trying to get these endorsements and support and then try and get this thing over with Tuesday."

Uniting Republicans

Even though McCain has experienced a surge in popularity, he still has had trouble wooing some of his party's more conservative members. Part of the Republican right doesn't seem to trust McCain, and in some cases they clearly dislike him.

McCain feels he has made headway among some of his toughest critics.

"I think that most of the conservatives, and a good percentage of them voted for me in Florida, are concerned about the threat of radical Islamic extremism and I think that's why I appeal to a pretty good segment of them," McCain said. "The rest of them, I hope that by the way I campaign and what I can present as my vision for the future will attract their support."

The presidential candidate said he hopes to unite his fractured party.

"My job is to try to unite the party, try to get everybody together realize that we've had disagreements on some issues," McCain said. "But I think it's common knowledge that we've got to have a united party and I think I can unite that party."

Attracting Minority Voters

But in a race where an African-American male and a female have a viable shot at their party's nomination -- and the White House -- some question, even with the conservative vote, if the Republicans are diverse enough to clinch a win.

Critics have charged that the party has evolved into a party just for Caucasian Americans, but McCain said he has had plenty of support from Hispanics.

"I think with the Hispanic voter, we were doing very well and now, unfortunately, we're seeing a drop in that support. I got 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in my last re-election and I'm proud of that," McCain said.

"I think that, we, it's a challenge but perhaps maybe not as big a challenge as the African-American vote. I'm not talking about anything except demographics [which] dictate that the Republican party has to be a 'big tent' party. And we're going to have to attract African-American voters and we're going to have to attract Hispanic voters, Asian voters, and others."