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PETERBOROUGH, N.H. -- As his campaign nears its end, John McCain convened a town hall meeting tonight in New Hampshire, the state that has sustained his presidential aspirations during the darkest times. McCain's first-place finish in New Hampshire in 2000 made him a serious contender against George W. Bush, though it failed to carry him through the rest of the primaries. Nearly eleven months ago, winning here put him on the path to securing his party's nomination. While only a couple of dozen people showed up eight years ago when he held one of his first town halls here, tonight...

Hewing to campaign conventions, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) today visited a local pastry shop here, praised his fellow Republican officeholders and declared Florida is "a battleground state" in the election. McCain entered Pancho's Spanish Bakery & Deli in Orlando this afternoon along with his wife Cindy, Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist and Orange County mayor Richard Crotty (R). They all shook hands with many patrons and a few employees. There was scattered applause. "Thank you," McCain said. "We have the mayor and the governor, how about that?" Upon seeing Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who was seated at a table, rise...

John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago. At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters. That difference — from...

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that John McCain will speak at the 2008 American GI Forum of the United States National Convention on Friday, July 25th in Denver, Colorado.

California-based immigration reform activist Rick Oltman says he is continually amazed that both presidential candidates continue to pander to Hispanic voters as if they are one huge monolithic voting bloc. ...Oltman, national spokesman for Californians for Population Stabilization, says most voters vote based on income level. "The average wage for Hispanic Americans in California is at the poverty level. People who are low income workers, when they vote, tend to vote Democrat," Oltman contends. "So all of this pandering for the Hispanic American vote over the fact that somebody is going to offer an amnesty that allows illegal aliens to...

John McCain set a difficult task for himself in his speech to the National Council of La Raza. He had to simultaneously reassure liberal Hispanic activists that he is a more reliable champion of comprehensive immigration reform -- otherwise known as amnesty -- than Barack Obama and convince conservatives that he is still committed to the enforcement-first position he took in the Republican primaries. All while denying that he has flip-flopped on immigration. In substance, his immigration remarks offered something for everyone. He explained his revised position. "Many Americans did not believe us when we said we would secure our...

July 14, 2008 ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery to the 2008 National Council of La Raza Convention in San Diego, CA, today at 12:45 p.m. PT (3:45 p.m. ET): Thank you, Jane, for that kind introduction. Thank you, also to the leadership of the National Council of La Raza, and its board of directors. I'm very pleased to be with you again to discuss some of the issues in this campaign that most concern you. As you know, this isn't my first address to La Raza. I'm proud to...

It's easy for opponents to ascribe motives to Sen. John McCain's decision to address the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Wednesday in Cincinnati. “John McCain's campaign stop has everything to do with political tactics and nothing to do with genuinely reaching out to voters,” said Alex Goepfert, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party. Another high-ranking Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that appearing before a predominantly black audience from which the Republican presidential candidate has a scant chance of getting votes is designed to earn McCain points with moderate white voters....