GOP News

Americans across our country are hurting because of the cost of energy. Gas prices are through the roof. Energy costs have seeped into our grocery bills, making it more expensive to feed our families. And now, as people prepare for the winter, they are going to be hit with higher costs for home heating oil. It is time for America to get serious about energy independence, and that means we need to start drilling offshore at advanced oil rigs like this.

Pundits have long said he can't win without them and now it seems that U.S. Republican presidential contender John McCain may finally be wooing his party's evangelical base. McCain spoke directly to this base at a "civil forum" on Saturday hosted by influential California mega pastor Rick Warren, who spent an hour prodding Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and then McCain with questions related to morality and leadership. McCain, an Arizona senator and war hero, hit the right political buttons before a nationally televised audience and thousands at Warren's massive Saddleback Church, stressing the emphatic opposition to abortion rights that is his trump card with social conservatives. Religious conservatives said the performance gave him a lift at a time when polls also show him gaining ground with the Republican base.

U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced Michigan's Grassroots Leadership Team. This team of local Michigan leaders will help organize and manage the campaign's grassroots efforts, including the "Get-Out-The-Vote" turnout operation, in each county and city across the state of Michigan.

John McCain told the nation's largest veterans group Monday that both he and Barack Obama want to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, but "the great difference is that I intend to win it first." McCain assailed Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, for saying he still would have opposed the 2007 U.S. troop build-up in Iraq. "Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory," McCain said. In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Republican candidate also questioned Obama's ability to handle foreign policy challenges such as Russia's invasion of Georgia.

"The resignation of President Pervez Musharraf is a step toward moving Pakistan onto a more stable political footing. Pakistan is a critical theater in countering the threat of al Qaeda and violent Islamic extremism, and I look forward to the government increasing its future cooperation.

The two-hour forum was really the opening, the tone-setting lap of an Olympic presidential race, as the candidates contrasted sharply in both style and substance. Democrat Obama spoke for the first hour, with Republican McCain off-stage, unable to hear the questions that would be posed to him later. As expected, Obama was a great conversationalist, offering thoughtful answers to tough questions. Highly personal and seemingly impossible questions -- what three people would you listen to as president, what is your greatest moral failure, what does faith in Christ mean to you -- seemed like small hurdles for his nimble mind. After a bit of a shaky start, McCain hit his stride with remarkably direct and energetic answers to the tough questions. Obama's nuanced responses, in which he processed multiple sides of complex issues, contrasted with McCain's direct replies. When asked when a child's human rights begin, McCain said straightforwardly, "at conception," whereas Obama equivocated. On same-sex marriage or merit pay for teachers, again McCain stepped into the pitch with a solid hit, whereas Obama's responses seemed more circular. As one pleasantly surprised evangelical leader said, "McCain is back on the straight talk express."

You can judge how well McCain did by the minimalist coverage in the media. The highlights reported here were virtually ignored in the Sunday papers. McCain has never been better. His self deprecation, his humor, and his life story turned the back-to-back interviews into a conclusive demonstration that he is ready for the presidency and Obama isn't. McCain was energized, comfortable and quietly eloquent in explaining why his life proves the most important of qualities in a president: character and core beliefs. Obama -- consistently charming and shallow -- demonstrated neither of those qualities.

U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery to the 109th Annual Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States National Convention in Orlando, Florida, today at 9:00 a.m.

McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, visited the Orange County Emergency Operations Center near Orlando shortly after flying from Long Beach, Calif. Speaking to a pool of reporters, he was optimistic that local and federal officials will work together if the storm strikes.

Rick Warren remarked Saturday night that he wanted to help us understand Obama’s and McCain’s different worldviews. He accomplished his purpose.

Finally, McCain's performance at the Warren forum helps change the political psychology going into the conventions. Republicans have spent the past few weeks pleasantly surprised at the closeness of the presidential race. But they have generally chalked this up to Obama's weakness, not McCain's strength. After Saturday night, even Republicans most skeptical of McCain must conclude: "Perhaps we aren't doomed after all."

John McCain to Deliver Remarks at the 109th Annual VFW National Convention

It took Obama three tries to catch up with John McCain, who had recognized at once the import of Russia's military offensive. McCain denounced Russia's aggression as soon as the news hit, then followed it up on Monday with a forceful explanation of the moral and strategic stakes in this crisis.

Now McCain's rejuvenated hopes rest on his ability to recast this election, focusing it on who should lead America in a world suddenly darkened by Russia's war of European conquest.