March 31, 1999
Web posted at: 6:25 p.m. EST (2325 GMT)

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (March 31) -- While Sen. John McCain has not formally announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, he spent Wednesday making sure voters in New Hampshire know he is in the running.

In his first major New Hampshire campaign outing McCain simply tried to let people know who he is.

The Arizona senator is not as well known in New Hampshire as some of the other Republican presidential hopefuls.

"I really haven't been following him. And I don't know much about him at all," one New Hampshire woman told CNN.

A New Hampshire man said: "I don't really follow his career, you know, so I don't really know that much about him."

At the Park Avenue Barber shop in Concord, New Hampshire it is McCain's war record in Vietnam that stands out in barber Ed Manzi's mind: "I know enough that he was a war hero and a prisoner of war and I kind of like his philosophy."

And down the street, its McCain's stand on Kosovo that sticks with voters.

"Lately of course he's spoken a lot about the issues in Kosovo in terms that we need to support the president and we need to do something. That will make a lot of people in New Hampshire listen to him," another resident said.

The fighting in Kosovo is a growing concern among voters in New Hampshire. You can see it on the street in Concord and hear it from the talk radio callers in Manchester.

One talk show listener called in to WGIR's talk show while McCain was the guest to say, "I agree that we do have to win it now because we're in it and we can't appear to be weak."

McCain believes the bombing campaign, thus far, has not been successful and NATO must seriously consider the option of sending in troops.

"I know many of our listeners are going to go berserk when I say this -- we cannot rule out any option because now we have to win," McCain said on the program.

"Look, in Pyongyang and Baghdad and Tehran and in Tripoli, they're paying attention. And if we lose to this Balkan thug (Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic), which is what he is, they're going to be on the march my friend and we're going to pay a very heavy price. We must win. We have to keep our nerve," McCain continued.

While McCain is attracting attention for his Kosovo stand, in order to be a serious contender, state party leaders say, he must be willing focus a lot of time and energy in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire GOP chairman Steve Duprey said, "It's essential for Sen. McCain to get up here a lot, to build an organization. He has some very talented political operatives and of course has a great friend in Sen. Warren Rudman who's very respected. But he does need to put time in up here."

McCain began laying the groundwork, meeting with more than 50 New Hampshire state representatives and senators.

State Rep. Richard Brewster (R) said, "I saw him being interviewed on the television and I really liked what he stood for."

"He is probably the only Republican that I would consider voting for. And its because he ... seems to have a lot of experience and maturity and ... that's what we need," said state Rep. Rose Marie Rogers (D).

McCain will return to New Hampshire next Tuesday for what is being billed as an old fashioned campaign rally. That's when he will announce he is officially a candidate for president of the United States.

Wednesday, March 31, 1999

• First lady 'horrified' at Serb attacks on Kosovo, Milosevic's 'manipulation' of truth
• McCain introduces himself to New Hampshire
• Could Kosovo make Gore another Hubert Humphrey?
• Committee: Government cannot accurately report location of billions in assets
• Witness: Jim McDougal wanted his ex to cooperate with Starr
• Supreme Court to hear first of several states' rights cases
• Bush exploratory committee says it has raised $6 million
• White House, nearly half of federal agencies miss Y2K deadline
• McCain to offer Internet bill
• New Hampshire House rejects income tax plan
• Some journalists say they don't always believe the media either

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