McCain Highlights His Bipartisan Record


By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times via San Jose Mercury News
August 13, 2008

Article Excerpts:

YORK, Pa. -- Republican presidential candidates rarely tout their collaborations with liberals such as Sen. Ted Kennedy while stumping for votes. But while trying to attract Democratic and independent voters, that's exactly what presumptive GOP nominee John McCain did Tuesday at a town hall session.

"I have a record of reaching across the aisle and working with my friends, whether it be Joe Lieberman or Ted Kennedy, no matter who it is, and that's what I will do," McCain told thousands of cheering supporters in this community, about 25 miles south of the state capital in Harrisburg. "America wants us to put our country first."

Pennsylvania figures to be a vital battleground in the November election. The state has voted for Democrats in the last four presidential elections, and registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 1 million. Yet in the last presidential contest, the Bush-Cheney ticket lost by just more than two percentage points -- or less than 150,000 votes, close enough to suggest that Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes can be won by the GOP. . . .

McCain, between his own campaign field offices and Republican Party outposts, has about one-third as many open in Pennsylvania as Obama. Still, he has campaigned frequently in the state. Tuesday marked his 15th day in Pennsylvania since he became the presumptive Republican nominee in March, and he plans to make a bus tour through Pennsylvania with former Gov. Tom Ridge after the Republican convention.

"You're going to be seeing a lot of me in this state," McCain told workers at a GE locomotive plant in Erie on Monday.

During the Republican primaries, McCain rarely mentioned his history of collaborating with Democrats such as Kennedy . . .

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