McCain counters rival with bratwurst stop — in Ohio

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 25, 2008

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain had his own German experience yesterday — at a restaurant in Ohio. He said he was happy to devote his time this week to touring the nation's heartland.

"I'd love to give a speech in Germany. But I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president," McCain told reporters after a meal of bratwurst with local business leaders at Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant in Columbus' German Village neighborhood.

As Democratic Sen. Barack Obama delivered a speech in Berlin, McCain said he was focusing his attention this week on the economy. He has been busy campaigning and raising money in such key battleground states as Ohio.

In what was clearly not a coincidence, McCain spoke with reporters shortly before Obama began his speech at Berlin's Victory Column.

At the same time, the Republican National Committee was running anti-Obama ads in Berlin, Pa., and other namesake villages in Wisconsin and New Hampshire.

McCain had planned to visit an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, but rough seas from Hurricane Dolly caused him to scrub that trip. He was to appear with cyclist Lance Armstrong later yesterday at a town-hall-style meeting here to focus on cancer, and today he will meet with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, in Aspen, Colo.

McCain said he regretted not being able to make the trip to the drilling rig, a visit intended to emphasize his support for lifting of the ban on offshore drilling. President Bush earlier this month rescinded an executive order reinforcing the congressional ban, but Congress must act as well for the moratorium on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf to be abolished.

"I'm sorry Congress is gridlocked again on offshore drilling," McCain said. "When I'm president, we'll all sit down together and work this out."
Ohio is a key swing state. Recent polls have suggested a close contest between Obama and McCain. President Bush narrowly defeated Democrat John Kerry here in 2004.