McCain Asserts That He Could Beat Obama in Nov.

Senator Says He Would Not Retreat From a Campaign in Which Change Was the Focus


By Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writer and washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Sunday, January 6, 2008; 6:08 PM

NASHUA, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asserted today that he could win a generational-focused November election campaign against Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on the strength of his record combating special interests and his support for President Bush's troop surge strategy in Iraq.

"I've made the most significant change that you could make -- or certainly played a key role in it -- and that is the new strategy in Iraq," he said. "We went from failure with the old strategy and we have the new strategy and we're saving American lives. I can't think of better change, frankly, or more important than saving American lives."