More heavy-weight surrogates hit the Battlegrounds for Mitt Romney. This time John McCain will stump in Michigan to appeal to the veterans vote:
U.S. Sen. John McCain — the Arizona Republican whose presidential campaign left Michigan four years ago after initially believing it could be an electoral battleground — will return to the state Monday to stump for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney as he courts the votes of veterans. McCain and U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township, are set to hold a roundtable discussion with 10-15 invited veterans at the American Legion in Utica at 10 a.m. According to the campaign, the event is intended to give veterans a chance to discuss their concerns with members of Romney’s policy team.
The event is open to invited guests only, which include some local veterans groups. McCain — whom Romney beat in the 2008 Republican primary in Michigan — is a former Navy pilot who was shot down over Hanoi during the Vietnam War and was held as a prisoner for years. “Mitt Romney believes our country must live up to the sacred trust we have with those who have defended our freedoms and with the men and women currently serving,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, a Michigan spokesman for the Republican National Committee.
The visit comes as Romney makes a push to secure the veteran vote. This week, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke on Romney’s behalf at a rally at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Hampton Roads, Va. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell — an early Romney supporter — said defense cuts proposed by Democratic President Barack Obama could hurt national security.
