On McCain's third visit, backers say New Jersey will be 'in play' in November

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain today made his third visit to New Jersey in the last three months, stopping by the Liberty Science Center with former Gov. Tom Kean, Sr. and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

The visit came a day after a Lakewood fundraiser that McCain campaign officials said was attended by 1,000 people and raised about $1 million.

Although McCain didn't say so himself, his prominent New Jersey supporters who attended the event said that his relatively frequent presence in the state was evidence that his campaign intends to put New Jersey in play in November.

State Sen. Bill Baroni, who chairs McCain's New Jersey campaign, said that the Senator's visits to the state so far - which prior to today included the Lakewood fundraiser and a rally at a Hamilton firehouse in February- prove that they're paying more than lip service to running a competitive race here.

"I have been told explicitly that New Jersey is a state that is in play. We're campaigning here, we're building a staff here, we're building an organization here," said Baroni, who noted that all the campaign stops so far have been in traditionally Democratic areas. "We're taking this campaign to nontraditional Republican areas. We're going to be campaigning very hard in Morris County, very hard in Hunterdon County, but judge us by where we have campaigned."

Although McCain has made more stops in the Garden State recently than either of his Democratic counterparts, he lags behind them in local polls. A recent Monmouth University survey put him 24 points behind Barack Obama and 14 points behind Hillary Clinton. A Bergen Record poll showed the race close, but with both Democrats still leading McCain.

McCain's supporters said that it's an unfair comparison, since the primary fight between Clinton and Obama has drawn most of the state's attention to their campaigns.

"Clinton and Obama are out there every day campaigning. Their name recognition is very high. McCain secured the nomination, in theory, some time ago. So once it's narrowed down to a one-on-one race, and people focus on Obama versus McCain, I think you're going to see that it will be very competitive and, at the end of the day, McCain will succeed," said state Sen. Kevin O'Toole.

On the environment

McCain's short speech in Jersey City, which focused on environmental issues, was a preview of a larger policy address set for Monday in Portland, Ore., in which he plans to speak at a company that manufactures wind turbines.

McCain was introduced by Kean, Sr., a Republican figure whose appeal in the state crosses party lines.

"I've always thought the world of John McCain, and this is the right place for him, because, as I view it, he's a Teddy Roosevelt Republican," said Kean, referring to McCain's work on behalf of national parks.

Lieberman took that thought further, saying that he considers McCain "not just Teddy Roosevelt Republican," but a "Tom Kean Republican" for Kean's "independent minded leadership and persistent willingness to work across party lines and gets things done for the people of New Jersey."

McCain cited his own previously failed bill to address global warming to show that he's concerned about the environment, and noted that Lieberman has a bill slated for a vote that has a better chance at passing.

"As president, I will dedicate myself to addressing the issue of climate change globally ... that includes China and India," said McCain, who advocated nuclear energy as one way to alleviate the problem.

The event was originally planned to be held out doors at Sandy Hook National Park but was moved due to rain. Even before it happened, Democrats and local environmentalists hit McCain for what they said was an inadequate commitment to environmental issues. Yesterday, Rep. Frank Pallone held a conference call with reporters and noted McCain's 0% rating by the League of Conservation Voters for this year. His life time rating with that organization is 24%.

New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel sent out a press release just before the event saying that, even though McCain was one of the first Senators to introduce legislation to combat global warming, his plan was "full of hot air" because of proposals that promote coal, fossil fuels, nuclear power and ethanol

"This is the first stop on the double-talk express," said Tittel. "His words say one thing, but his record puts him in lock-step with the Bush Administration and its dismantling of environmental programs."

Republican Senate candidate Murray Sabrin also showed up to the event, handing out press releases to members of the media with suggested questions for McCain, including why he supports sacrificing "the lives of brave men and women in Iraq for oil" but not wanting "to risk the potential life of a few caribou in Alaska" by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

McCain takes on his critics

In response to a reporter's question, McCain dismissed an Arianna Huffington article in which she claimed that he told her that he did not vote for George W. Bush in 2000 as "nonsense," and defended his remarks about a Hamas's spokesman's favorable words about Barack Obama.

"All I can say is that it's very obvious to everyone that Sen. Obama shares nothing of the values or goals of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization," he said. "But it's also a fact that a spokesperson from Hamas said that he approves of Sen. Obama's candidacy. I think that's of interest to the American people, and that is something that needs to be discussed."