Arizona Sen. John McCain celebrated his victory in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary by stating that he will be the Republican nominee. McCain also made a clear effort to juxtapose himself against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as the possible Democratic Party nominee, ignoring New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and taking shots at Obama's theme of change and level of foreign policy experience.
"I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change that promises no more than a holiday from history," McCain said in a barely veiled criticism of Obama, whom he did not mention by name. He also clearly alluded to Obama in describing an opponent who said he might bomb Pakistan, a U.S. ally -- a reference to Obama's comment last year that he would pursue al Quida leaders in Pakistan if they were located there -- but said he would negotiate with the hostile regime in Iran.
"I promise you I will wage a campaign with determination with passion and with the right ideas," McCain told supporters Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio, where he was campaigning in advance of the March 4 primary in that state.
McCain did not ignore economic issues, which exit poll respondents in both parties' Wisconsin primaries said was their top concern. He said he would work to balance the federal budget, "not with smoke and mirrors, but with economic growth," and renewed his oft-stated pledge to cut wasteful spending.
But McCain, a former Vietnan War POW and a strong supporter of President Bush's "surge" strategy in Iraq, returned to his experience on military affairs. "I know what our military can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do.... I know how this world works, I know the good and evil in it."
CQ Politics' Grigs Crawford contributed to this article.
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