McCain drums up Mississippi support

The Clarion-Ledger, 3/31/8

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said today that collecting votes in Mississippi will require work, despite the state’s GOP leanings in presidential races.

“We’ll have to campaign hard,” McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, said after attending a $1,000-per-plate luncheon fundraiser at the University Club in downtown Jackson. “We’ll have to energize our base nationally, and also in Mississippi.”

Some Republicans in Mississippi think McCain is too liberal. Others say although they don’t know much about him, they’ll vote for him over a Democrat.

Down the street from the fundraiser, dozens of Mississippi Democrats rallied in support of McCain’s potential opponents, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.