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McCain enters presidential race
01/03/2007 13:21 - (SA)
Washington - Republican senator John McCain announced on Wednesday that he will run for the White House in the 2008 race.
McCain, who lost his party's nomination in 2000 to now-President George W Bush, made the announcement on an unusual venue: CBS television's Late Show with David Letterman, a popular comedy show.
"I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States," McCain, said on the show. He later said he would make a formal announcement in April.
The outspoken Arizona senator has seen his standing in the polls slip among Republican faithful, with a Wednesday survey placing him well behind his main rival, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
McCain has been a strong supporter of the unpopular Iraq war, arguing that more forces must be poured in to flush out insurgent strongholds, crush militias and sectarian violence and to train Iraqi forces - a position since taken up by the president.
"Without additional forces, we cannot win this war," said McCain.
Unacceptable rate of progress
Also in November, McCain used a congressional hearing to dress down General John Abizaid, the top US commander in the Middle East.
"I regret deeply that you seem to think the status quo and the rate of progress we're making is acceptable. I think most Americans do not," McCain said.
A new poll on Wednesday however shows McCain, a former navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, lagging behind Giuliani, known as "America's Mayor" for his handling of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York. Giuliani was pulling in 44% of support, compared to 34% on January 19, according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll.
McCain lost six points, going from 27% in January to 21% in the new poll.
Despite his differences with the president, McCain strongly support Bush's 2004 presidential election - ignoring hints that Democrat John Kerry, another Vietnam war veteran, wanted him as a running mate - and has since been mending fences with his party's conservative base.
- AFP
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