McCain Makes It Official: He's Running

Republican John McCain officially entered the 2008 presidential race Wednesday, stressing his experience honed in war and Washington as he sought to reinvigorate his campaign.

"We face formidable challenges, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them," McCain said before a crowd of supporters.

In a speech in the first-in-the-nation primary state, McCain stressed the wisdom he's acquired over time rather than the decades themselves as he sought to make the case that he's the most qualified to succeed President Bush amid challenges at home and abroad.

"I'm not the youngest candidate. But I am the most experienced," added the 70-year-old. "I know how to fight and how to make peace. I know who I am and what I want to do."

The announcement was not a surprise; his intentions have long been clear and he has spent months campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other early-primary states.

Thus, McCain was largely using the speech and a four-day trip through early primary states and his Arizona home to make the case for his candidacy, outline his vision for the country and promise "common sense, conservative and comprehensive solutions" to the nation's problems.

The high-profile events also give McCain an opportunity to restart his campaign and inject momentum into it after a troubling four-month period. He went from presumed front-runner for the GOP nomination at year's end to trailing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in national polls and ex-Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in money raised.

At the same time, McCain, a critic of how the Iraq war was waged, became perhaps forever linked to it when he became a prime backer of President Bush's troop-increase strategy earlier this year as overall support for the four-year-old conflict waned.

Sharpening a campaign message, McCain is stressing experience and knowledge honed in war and in Washington as he seeks to convince voters, particularly the conservatives whose support is critical in the GOP primary, that he's the best candidate to succeed Mr. Bush as the country wages war in Iraq and fights terrorism worldwide.

"I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better and what it should not do. I know how Congress works, and how to make it work for the country and not just the re-election of its members," said McCain, who spent nearly two dozen years in the Navy — almost six of them as a prisoner in Vietnam — and two dozen more on Capitol Hill.

"I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't," he added.

McCain said the United States must: "rethink and rebuild" the structure and mission of military intelligence sectors and law enforcement agencies; improve U.S. alliances and strengthen diplomacy with other nations; "marshal all elements of American power;" and "preserve our moral credibility, and remember that our security and the global progress of our ideals are inextricably linked."

More broadly, he stressed bipartisan solutions to the nation's ills, saying "much more unites us than divides us. We have common purposes and common challenges, and we live in momentous times."

Suggesting the country's interests would come before his own political aspirations, McCain belittled "half measures and small-minded politics" as inadequate and promises to work with anyone who was sincere about solving the country's problems.

"When a compromise consistent with our principles is within reach, I expect us to seize it," McCain added, a subtle suggestion that he would not be the same type of leader as Bush, who is known for his stubborn refusal to bend.

He also called for curtailing wasteful spending and ending the U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources.

To formally enter the race, McCain chose to return to the state of his surprising 18-percentage-point upset victory over Mr. Bush in the 2000 primary. Back then, the senator was a plucky insurgent seeking to knock off the Texas governor who had the backing of the GOP establishment. After trouncing Bush there, McCain lost to him in South Carolina in a bitter race and his campaign never recovered.