McCain stops in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS – John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, made his case to Hoosier voters in a campaign visit Friday in Indianapolis.\nMore than 100 of his supporters and members of the public turned out at the Emmis Communication building for the town hall-style meeting led by the Arizona senator.\n“This is the very essence of democracy,” McCain said, speaking of the importance of the town hall meeting. “This is not only a way for you to listen to me, but for me to listen to you.”\nMcCain stressed his views on a number of issues, ranging from foreign policy to taxes. But McCain devoted a significant amount of his time defending his support of the troop surge in Iraq and his commitment to victory in the war.\n“It is long, hard and difficult,” he said. “But what I will not do as president is set a public date for withdrawal, because that would be a date for surrender.”\nTouting his foreign policy credentials, he also made statements regarding Thursday’s riots in Serbia over Kosovo’s recent declaration of independence and the difficulties in dealing with post-Castro Cuba. He said he favored enforcing the trade embargo against Cuba until human rights violations are addressed and free and fair elections are held. \nMcCain’s stop was the first Indiana visit by any of the competitive candidates in the 2008 race for the White House. In a state that has voted Republican in every presidential race for decades and with the GOP nomination all but sewed up, many saw the senator’s visit to Indiana as a push to gain more funding than to pick up votes. McCain followed the town hall meeting with a stop at an invitation-only fundraiser at the Conrad Hotel. \nMcCain said he respected fellow GOP candidate Mike Huckabee’s decision to stay in the race and said as long as there was a competitor, he would still campaign in the primaries. Indiana doesn’t hold its primary until May 6. \nWith political activism on the rise on college campuses, McCain argued that he would be able energize the youth vote, despite the significant amount of support the Democratic candidates are already seeing. \n“I understand that I will have to use venues such as MTV to reach them,” he said, “but I am confident we will compete very hard for the American youth vote.”\nGov. Mitch Daniels, who has already endorsed the senator, and McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, also addressed the crowd.\n“I hope you find the qualities that I have found in him,” Cindy McCain said. “And more importantly, the qualities you want in a president.”\nWith his wife at his side, McCain said he would not make any further comments regarding last week’s controversial New York Times article that suggested McCain had a romantic relationship with a female lobbyist.