McCain Quotes And Last Town Hall Thoughts

Here are a few choice quotes U.S. Sen. John McCain had at his town hall.

On the economy:

"No issue is more urgent than this nation’s economy. It is hard to find confidence of any kind you have just lost your job."

On gas prices:

"Gas prices the costs of luxury costs. A brief gas tax holiday is needed. Congress is doing nothing for you. I support to lift the ban on off shore drilling."

On the war:

"We were about to lose a war. I know what had to be done. The current strategy was failing. This strategy has succeeded…I am confident we will win this war."

On the war's possible conclusion:

"They were wrong then and they are wrong now. I want us out too but with victory and honor."

On ethanol, green technology:

"I don’t believe in subsidizing ethanol. It has resulted in higher process. Green technology will be the future of the American economy. General Motors is depending a lot on it. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be a boom for our economy."

On immigration and the borders:

"We have to seal the borders first but we must have comprehensive immigration reform. We are a human and compassionate country. There are those who have worked hard and support their families."

On partisanship:

"We question patriotism way too much in Washington….we should have a spirited debate"

On stem-cell research:

"We should fund it. There is new technology with great promise. It has potential for curing some of the most terrible diseases."

Final thoughts: Overall, I felt McCain did a good job of hitting the two most important discussion items – energy and the war.

There is no doubt McCain and the conservatives are still far apart on immigration. It was the only awkward moment of the day during his speech. He hit point after point, exciting the crowd, until he received a question about immigration. He joked about the meeting "ending" after he received the question, knowing a great majority would not like his answer.

But McCain connected with the crowd on oil drilling and the war, the two things that resulted in the greatest applause and standing ovations. He also defended some of the attacks U.S. Sen. Barrack Obama has underwent this campaign and refused to question his patriotism.

As mentioned in the previous post, McCain's reputation for doing well in town-halls was well deserved. Obama clearly does a better job with 18,000 and a rock-star like environment. However, like Bill Clinton, McCain does an adequate job with a small crowd and one-on-one interaction

I expect both Obama and McCain to be back here around election night. Missouri will be extremely pivotal and polls about the state have been mixed. McCain has really hit his message on energy and if gas goes higher, he could win. He knows he is the underdog and he has a high mountain to climb, especially when Obama is earning $52 million in fundraising during this "depression of an economy."