ROCKY RIVER — Mac is back in Ohio, and he plans on becoming a regular.

“Since 1964, every single candidate for president has been elected, if they carry Ohio,” U.S. Sen. John McCain told a packed room at a rally in Rocky River on Monday. “You’re going to get sick and tired of me because I am going to be back and back and back and I’m going to win Ohio.”

Although he is mathematically assured of becoming the Republican nominee for president, McCain looked to secure his base in Northeast Ohio with a lengthy discussion on lowering taxes, extinguishing terror and reducing government spending.

The multigenerational crowd at the Don Umerley Civic Center was large, loud and enthusiastic; routinely breaking into elongated applause or vociferous booing at mention of McCain’s Democratic opposition, both of whom also have been paying a lot of attention to Ohio, in light of the March 4 primary.

“(Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama) are liberal Democrats and I am a conservative Republican,” he said.

To bolster this claim, McCain frequently invoked Ronald Reagan’s legacy — and pen — to assure supporters that a primary task of his prospective presidency would be to curb “irresponsible, wasteful, disgraceful” government spending.

McCain said he would take the pen he received from Ronald Reagan and veto every single pork-barrel project that crossed his desk.

By cutting government spending and taxes for all Americans, McCain said he could improve the economy of Ohio, which he acknowledged has been hurt by the flight of manufacturing jobs.

“In challenging economic times, we need to save more of your money for you to spend and to not send it to Washington to spend for you,” he said.

Tax cuts would be extended to large corporations, McCain said, to discourage them from relocating abroad.

Using some of his famous “straight talk,” McCain bluntly stated: “Some of those factory jobs are not coming back.”

Moving forward, he said, means looking into green technology such as hybrid, battery driven and flexible-fuel automobiles.

 “And the innovation, the technology and the training and the education is right here in the state of Ohio,” he said.

McCain said the country must eliminate its dependence on foreign oil. He said some of the money we spend on oil — half of our trade deficit, he said — ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations.

His language and speech grew strident and fiery when he spoke of terrorism, which he called a “transcendent challenge” and “one of the greatest evils this country has ever faced.”

“We will never surrender,” McCain said to a standing ovation. “If I have to follow him to the gates of Hell, I’ll get Osama bin Laden.”

That was McCain’s segue to one of this election’s most pervasive issues: Iraq.

“I know the war in Iraq is a sad and frustrating situation,” he said, “but we are succeeding in Iraq.”

McCain said that his experience and political integrity would make him particularly suited to face the war as well as other challenges.

“Not because I’m the smartest guy in the world, but because I study and because I’ve had 20 years of experience,” McCain said. “I’ve had the great honor of serving this country since I was 17.

“I’ve been proud to serve, and I’d be honored to have the opportunity to serve a little while longer and I promise you I know I can inspire Americans to serve causes greater than their self-interest and maintain the greatest nation in the world in the 21st century as we were in the 20th.

“And be, as our beloved Ronald Reagan used to say, a shining city on a hill.”

Contact Michael Baker at 329-7128 or mbaker@chroniclet.com.

 

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