McCain Visits NH One Last Time Before Election Day

In what was surely his last stop in New Hampshire for the ’08 campaign, John McCain made his final appeal to New Hampshire’s voters in Peterborough yesterday. The election is only a day away and McCain is hoping that this battleground state swings his way as it has so loyally in the past.

New Hampshire has seen McCain dozens upon dozens of times since he first ran for president in 2000. The crowds haven’t always overflowed the buildings like it did yesterday and McCain joked about an event they held in the same town hall in July before the 2000 elections, “not enough people were going to show up so we moved to the basement, still nobody showed up so we gave away free ice cream. Our campaign ate ice cream for the next two weeks.” Luckily his luck changed.

Just as he did the other week on Saint Anselm’s campus, McCain thanked New Hampshire for treating him so well over the years and reemphasized how this state has boosted him ahead when some thought him finished. “Some of my greatest memories, some of my most wonderful friends… I really do mean the special feeling I have for this state and the wonderful people who take their responsibility so seriously,” he said.

During the event McCain spoke about a variety of issues from the economy to foreign policy as he so often does at town hall meetings. He addressed the wars in Iraq, concerns people had about voter fraud, concerns the crowd had about their 401(k)’s, and immigration. It was a fitting final stop and a classic example of John McCain at his best. He stood comfortably in his sporty black windbreaker directing the microphone to people raising their hands and answered as many questions as he could, being pressed by his staff on the clock. New Hampshire has become familiar with that image of the senator.

Remembering how important the primary here was for him, he told the capacity crowd of about 500, “and I want to assure you again – I will do everything in my power… to make sure that New Hampshire keeps it’s first in the nation status. It’s a tradition and it’s important. It is important and vital that we have this process because you cannot buy an election in the state of New Hampshire, my friends, the people decide in New Hampshire.”

That statement carried with it his hope for November 4th.