McCain Defends Stance on Florida Issues

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, on Thursday was back in Florida, a state that's expected once again to be a target in the general election.

McCain reiterated his call for a series of town hall meetings with Democrat Barack Obama and defended his record as a reformer — even when his reforms have been against Florida's interests.

McCain was in Orlando to address a nonpartisan group, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. That may have been one reason why his tone was almost gentle. He had only praise for Hillary Clinton and only muted criticism of Obama — whom he chided for voting for the farm bill.

One person he didn't mention was President George W. Bush. Instead, McCain touted his own record as an independent willing to work with members of the opposite party on efforts such as overhauling campaign finance and immigration.

"Sometimes I have won and sometimes I have lost," McCain said, "but I have always put the American people first."

McCain reiterated his dedication to winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also talked about the economy, promising to strengthen the dollar and achieve energy independence.

These are all issues he said he hopes to take up in town hall-style meetings, as he proposed this week in a letter to Obama. It's an idea, he said Thursday, that he took from Democratic President John F. Kennedy and his Republican challenger, Barry Goldwater. In 1963, he says, the two rivals made plans for similar events.

"They were friends and had agreed to fly around the country in the same airplane … and hold these debates and town hall meetings around the country," McCain said. "I think there's one thing we can all agree on … that Americans have gotten tired of politics as usual."

The Obama campaign has reacted positively but has not yet committed to the idea.

But in the category of "all politics is local," being a reformer can conflict with parochial interests.

On Friday, McCain has a visit set to the Everglades, where he'll ride an airboat and talk about efforts to restore the fragile ecosystem. So why, he was asked in Orlando, did he vote to oppose a big water bill that contained $2 billion for Everglades restoration?

"I am committed to saving the Everglades," McCain said. "I will do whatever is necessary to do so and have made that clear to the rest of the delegation. But if we start piling on project after project, some of them good and some of them bad, as I was mentioning, as part of the earmark process, then spending gets completely out of control."

McCain also opposes a national catastrophe fund — a pool that would spread the risk from natural disasters among all U.S. taxpayers. It's supported by Florida's entire congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. On Thursday, Democrats unveiled an ad attacking McCain for his opposition to the fund.

This is McCain's second visit to Florida in less than a month, and he has promised to visit a lot. One reason is money: In three days in the state, McCain is holding five fundraisers.