RSS Feed
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
McCain says area gives 'hope for America'
McCain's visit to Thomasville and south Alabama was historic in that it was the first time for a major presidential candidate to visit the area. "Americans have had tough times. A few people in this room may even remember the Great Depression, when America went through probably its greatest economic crisis in its history - yet out of that depression came a generation of Americans that went out and fought and made the world safe for democracy. "There are tough times now," the Arizona senator said. "There are tough times in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are tough times economically in America. Today, tonight, someone here in Thomasville is at the kitchen table saying 'how do we keep our home? How do we keep our job? How can we assure the American dream?'
"…We need to have change in America," McCain said. "We need to do things differently….I'll reach out my hand to those on the other side of the aisle - because Americans want change. "They're tired of business as usual in Washington. They are tired of the waste and the needless expenditure of their tax dollar. They are tired of the actual corruption that exists there. They're tired of seeing that we (citizens) are spending more and more and more to just pay to fill up our gas tank. They're tired, frankly, of not having affordable and available healthcare," he said. McCain began his day in Selma, traveled to Gee's Bend in Wilcox County where he wrote a check for $14,000 for three of the famous Gee's Bend quilts. Headed toward Thomasville, his buses stopped at Carolyn's Restaurant in Pine Hill for ice cream. In Thomasville he was so impressed by 700 elementary students lining the driveway to see him that he stopped and shook the hand of each child. Over 1,000 students and adults, including military veterans, heard him seak at Thomasville High School. He then spoke before an overflow crowd of 300-400 at Alabama Southern Community College, talking about the value of education and hailing cooperative programs between ASCC and Thomaville city schools. Afterwards, McCain's bus drove the candidate down Highway 43 to the Jackson airport where he boarded a private jet to fly to Birmingham where he had evening fundraising events. "I went on this trip to learn," he told those gathered at THS. "I want to learn about the challenges that face this great nation - the challenges that face the State of Alabama….I need to understand your hopes and dreams and your aspirations and how government can help and also how government can get out of the way - so government will not be an impediment - not make the decisions for you." McCain acknowleged the many veterans who came to see him at the high school. "I thank you for your service and sacrifice," he told them. He also praised the work of teachers. "We need to reward you more for the great work that you do." McCain said along with rewarding good teachers, "I also want us to find bad teachers another line of work." The senator demonstrated his characteristic "straight talk" at Alabama Southern answering a question about agriculture. "I won't support subsidies," he told Robert Utsey, an ALFA representative. "…I believe subsidies are unnecessary. I believe that my job (as president) is to open every market in the world to the products of the most efficient agricultural people in the world, and that's the American farmer. "I'm not afraid of foreign competition. I'm not afraid that some farmer in some other part of the world will undersell the most efficient, the most productive worker in the world. In regard to higher gas prices, "we're spending over $400 billion a year that's going to countries that don't like us very much. Some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. We've got to achieve energy independence in this nation. It's our highest priority." McCain recently proposed a summer holiday from gas taxes. "To the special interests in Washington, you would have thought that was the end of Western civilization," he said. "…They're driving in chauffered limos, what do they care?....I would like to give people in rural America, who drive long distances, a break." The Senate refused to take a vote on his proposal. The senator was questioned about progress on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by Butler attorney Johnny Thompson. The struggle in Afghanistan is tough, he said. "An area between Afghanistan and Pakistan is basically ungovernable. It's not been for thousands of years. "The Taliban is making a comeback. They are able to make greater attacks. We are not getting the kind of participation from a lot of our allies that we would like to have. The British, the Canadians, a couple of others, are doing a lot. "…The government of Afghanistan is not as strong as we want it to be," McCain said, "and there is significant corruption. All of this is accerbated by the poppy crop (the drug trade). It's a tough hard struggle in Afghanistan. These are fanatical people….They are dedicated to the destruction of every thing that we stand for. "…I believe we can prevail in Afghanistan. It is going to be a hard struggle there. My job is to tell the American people the truth - not what they want to hear - what I think they should hear. We need to do everything we can to get more of our friends and allies engaged - because it is in their national security interests as well as ours. "In Iraq, it has been a long, hard, tough struggle," the senator said. "There are numerous elements that we are combating in Iraq. The al-Qaida is on the run. They are not defeated. There is a big battle going on right now in the city of Mosul. Block-by-block, neighborhood by-neighborhood - we are gradually moving them back." "Now we have a great general (Major General David H. Petraeus)," McCain said, "and we have a strategy that is succeeding, but it has tried the patience of the American people. "…We are succeeding. The casualties are down. They (the enemy) will not go quietly into the night….I am convinced if we do what Senators Barack) Obama and Senator (Hillary) Clinton want - that is to set a date for withdrawal - it will be chaos and genocide in the region. The sacrifice will be in vain. "…Democracy is a hard thing," he said. "They (the coalition forces) are making progress. I believe that when this war is over, once we have succeeded, then we talk about a security arrangement with the Iraqis such as we have with South Korea and in other countries." Citizens who saw him said they were impressed with his stamina and knowledge of issues although many confessed he was a smaller and leaner man than they had imaged from TV. Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day said it was a great day for his city and the region and that McCain expressed genuine interest in rural issues and local efforts at development and self improvement.
"If he is elected we will hear from him again," Day predicted.
|
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
