McCain: Iowa a “battleground” in November

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is due in Des Moines this afternoon, his first campaign appearance in Iowa after his fourth-place finish in the January 3, 2008 Iowa Caucuses.  McCain called into the Radio Iowa newsroom shortly after 11 o’clock Iowa time.  Here is the interview (mp3 runs six minutes). (McCain begins by joking that he thought about asking for a recount of the Caucus results.)

UPDATE:  Here’s a key quote from the interview: "I think it’s going to be a contested race in Iowa. I hope we can get our vote out and get our not only Republicans but Independents and the old Reagan Democrats and the new Reagan Democrats as we call ’em and I think I can compete with Senator Obama or Senator Clinton and by the way, it’s not totally clear to me who the (Democrat’s) nominee is going to be but I expect to be a contested race in Iowa and all across America," McCain said.  "We’re going to be campaign everywhere in America.  I’m not going to just confine my campaign to a few states and so we’re going to go everywhere and Iowa will be one of the battleground states."

In addition to the Iowa campaign effort for the fall election, McCain discussed his proposed gas tax holiday for the summer driving season, the prospects for action on any changes in the health care system & the fifth anniversary of Bush’s declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.

Here’s the Radio Iowa story, focused on Iowa as a "battleground" in November’s election.