BOW, NH-A large crowd turned out on a chilly New Hampshire evening after a spring Nor'easter to listen to a little bit of Sen. John McCain's "straight talk" last night.  The event was hosted by Jayne and Shawn Millerick of Bow. 

"When I decided to endorse Sen. McCain, I sat back and said, ‘what is the most important issue facing the nation today,'" said Jayne Millerick, a former chair of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, in her introduction of Sen. McCain (R-AZ).  "Of course the biggest issue is national security."

"I looked at the field, and I said when we elect a president who is going to be able to hit the ground running?  Who has the most experience?  And who do I trust to have the courage to lead this country at this time in our nation's history?  For me, and I know for a lot of you, that's Sen. McCain," she said.

McCain picked up on the theme following Millerick's introduction.

"I believe that my life has prepared me to lead this nation," McCain stated.  "I don't need any on-the-job-training."

McCain dedicated a significant portion of his remarks to the war in Iraq. "The war was very badly mismanaged and we have paid a very heavy price for that," he said. "We have sacrificed a great deal because of it."

"I believe we have a new general who is a fine general.  I hope you get a chance to see him on television.  This guy Petraeus, who is very good," McCain stated.  "More importantly we have a new strategy.  Now we go in, we get rid of the bad people and we hold the area with Iraqi and American troops and we start letting the economic and political process move forward. Before we didn't do that."

McCain was cautious not to over-hype recent successes in Baghdad, however.  "There are parts of Baghdad that are under control now.  There are some signs of success.  But I'm not going to hype them to you.  Because one of the reasons we are so frustrated is that there were so many optimistic statements made about the war by our leaders.  You know, ‘last throes,' ‘a few deadenders,' ‘mission accomplished,' all that.  It led people to believe this wasn't the hard and difficult task that we know it is."

"If we set a date for withdrawal, as some of my Democratic friends want to do, we will just guarantee failure," he added.

"This is evil that we are facing," McCain stated, referring to al Qaeda and the terrorists in Iraq. "It isn't Iraq they want.  It's us they're after."

There were many undecided activists and voters in the audience.  At least one attendee was sold on McCain, however.  I'm on board," a gentleman from Concord told the Daily Acts.  "I wasn't on board when I came here but I am now."    

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