McCain Follows Unlikely Path to Republican Nomination

McCain, who would be the oldest person elected to a first term as president at age 72, is known for occasionally breaking from his party while sticking to core conservative principles.

John McCain has been a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, while criticizing President Bush’s handling of the conflict. However, he has been known to go against his party on issues such as campaign finance and immigration. That has made him unpopular with some conservatives but attractive to some independent voters.

Unusual journey

	Despite a lack of money and problems with the conservative base of his party, McCain beat ten other Republicans to become the nominee.

McCain survived an 11-man Republican primary contest, a fourth-place finish in the crucial first contest in Iowa and a lack of campaign funds to eventually become the presumptive nominee in March.

David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times, told the NewsHour that McCain’s town meetings in New Hampshire and his willingness to campaign when he was out of money helped save his candidacy.

“He sort of -- for all the people who think you need to strategize and do this and that, he had no strategy, because he had no strategists left. And so he just said, 'I'm going to do whatever I need to do.' And he just was himself. And I think that did liberate him,” Brooks said.

McCain revived his chances after winning the second nominating contest in independent-minded New Hampshire.

Military service to politics

	John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967 to 1973.

As a pilot, McCain flew bombing missions over North Vietnam and was shot down in 1967, captured by the North Vietnamese and kept as a prisoner and tortured.

After his release, McCain became the Navy’s liaison in the Senate in 1977. Soon after moving to Phoenix, Ariz., McCain relied in part on his Vietnam experience to win a congressional seat from the state in 1982.

Nuanced political career

	John McCain, with US Commander in Iraq David Petraeus, supports the U.S. presence in Iraq but has criticized how President Bush has managed the war.

While he has supported President Bush’s agenda on items such as the Iraq war and tax cuts, McCain has a history of taking on his party over two important issues: immigration and campaign finance reform.

The 2002 McCain-Feingold law, which McCain cosponsored with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, limited the amount of money individuals could donate to federal elections and regulated certain political advertisements. It also made McCain unpopular with many conservatives.

McCain also recently favored immigration reform would allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the United States to work, angering some conservatives who want to see illegal immigrants deported from the country.

Second try at the White House

	Illinois Senator Barack Obama will most likely be McCain's opponent in the 2008 presidential election.

Two of the major issues that could divide the two are the Iraq war and foreign policy. Obama has called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. He would also negotiate aggressively with countries such as Iran and North Korea, while McCain advocates staying in Iraq until the country achieves a more stable democracy. McCain has also criticized Obama over his diplomatic ambitions.

McCain's campaign will depict himself as an experienced politician who can bring about change better than Obama.

"Both candidates will represent change. The question will be the right type of change versus the wrong kind of change," Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist for McCain, told the Associated Press. "Senator Obama's inexperience, his lack of judgment, his naivete, his lack of accomplishment will all be part of the debate."

However, Democrats and Obama will try to link McCain to President Bush, whose presidency is suffering from the unpopular war in Iraq and a troubled economy, while painting Obama as a positive shift away from establishment politics in Washington.