Face The State Staff Report
DENVER - In a pair of campaign appearances here Thursday, Sen. John McCain joined with former rival Mitt Romney and leading Colorado Republicans to emphasize the need to win back Colorado and other traditionally strong Republican states that have fallen to the tide of a Democrat surge in recent years.
Musgrave, Schaffer, and McCainFTS Staff Photo
“Colorado will be a battleground state and we will work hard here and I have every confidence that I can win in the state of Colorado,” McCain told reporters at an afternoon press conference at the Brown Palace Hotel.
Romney’s support of McCain is noteworthy because of Romney's success in the west, where he won five GOP primaries, including Colorado, before dropping out of the race in February. McCain preached a united party as the key to success. U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and the state’s Republican delegation, including U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard and Reps. Marilyn Musgrave and Doug Lamborn, accompanied him.
McCain gracefully sidestepped a question about whether or not a president should be held accountable for the views of his pastor, an obvious reference Sen. Barack Obama’s relationship to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who’s anti-American comments have inflamed voters.
“McCain always takes the high road. He’ll let his opponents destroy themselves,” said John Andrews, former president of the Colorado State Senate. Andrews said it was great to see McCain and Romney side-by-side and believes Romney would be a terrific running mate.
"I am proud to be able to support Senator McCain, who this country needs as its next president," Romney said. "It is important for all of us who care about the future of America not to sit back and see how this election turns out, but to be actively involved."
McCain wrapped up his day with a fundraiser at the Denver Athletic Club, where attendees were expected to raise $25,000 apiece for McCain's presidential bid.