MILWAUKEE - o - oU.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigned in Milwaukee Friday, aiming to put an emphasis on his conservative credentials.
An audience of 350-400 attended the Reagan Day dinner and fish fry for the Milwaukee County Republican Party.
It bothers me when people say he's not conservative enough,"" said former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson before introducing McCain.
Thompson said McCain was an ""outstanding"" conservative and that McCain had an 85-out-of-100 rating from the lobbyist group the American Conservative Union.
McCain emphasized national security and health care in his speech.
He said it was shameful the U.S. House of Representatives ended a legislative session before reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which recently passed the U.S. Senate, and said the legislation was needed to combat terrorism.
McCain said he would remain committed to staying in Iraq and frequently brought up the War on Terror in his speech, once referencing his ambition for catching Osama bin Laden.
""If I have to follow him to the gates of Hell, I will find him and bring him to justice,"" McCain said to loud applause.
He said a date for withdrawal from Iraq would be a ""date for surrender"" and the troop surge in the past year had been a success.
The Republican Party, according to McCain, needs to return to some of its basic principles.
He said the problem of Congressional earmarks - portions of a bill that lawmakers often add to bring money or projects to their districts - was hurting the country. He said $35 billion had been spent on this type of ""pork barrel"" legislation.
McCain said he had never asked for an earmark in his 24 years in the Senate and said Clinton added $342 million in earmarks for her state in her term.
McCain also said that the Republican Party needed to rally itself.
""We need to unite our party and we need to re-energize our party,"" McCain said.
Several Republicans in the crowd before and after the event said they still had not made up their minds if they would vote for McCain in Wisconsin's primary Tuesday.
Gail Yerke, of Waukesha County, said several people she knew were not sure if they would vote for McCain or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. She said she would like to see Huckabee as McCain's vice president.
John Baumgartner, a veteran in his 60s, said he did not think any Republican candidate in this election cycle epitomized everything conservatives wanted.
He said Huckabee is somewhat of a ""regional candidate,"" meaning Huckabee has limited appeal outside of certain areas of the country. Baumgartner said he felt like McCain would be able to draw a lot of support from independent voters in the general election.
McCain currently leads Huckabee 48 percent to 32 percent in the latest poll from WISC-TV.
