ACRAMENTO - Continuing his intensified appeals to conservative Republicans, Arizona Senator John McCain yesterday emphasized his opposition to gay marriages, his antiabortion voting record, and his differences with the Clinton administration before an overflow crowd at Sacramento State University.
Criticism of the administration's ethics and morals, popular targets for Republicans from the beginning of this campaign, this time took second place to a wide-ranging review of Clinton's foreign and military policies, showcasing McCain's grasp of subjects on which Texas Governor George W. Bush is perceived by some as uncomfortable.
''This administration has conducted a feckless, photo-op foreign policy ... foreign policy as social work,'' McCain said. ''Got a problem with Haiti? Send in 20,000 troops, spend $2 billion. Haiti is arguably worse off for the exprience. Want to go on peacekeeping mission to Somalia? ... Watch, on television, the bodies of American soldiers being dragged through the streets. ... My friends, you need a steady hand at the tiller.''
On major-power relations, McCain said recent aggressive statements by China regarding Taiwan provide compelling reason for US development of a missile defense system. He condemned Clinton's acceptance of Russian policy in Chechnya, and pledged to use US economic assistance as a tool to discourage Russian weapons sales to nations hostile to the United States.
McCain was crisp and well-timed both in his frequent jokes and his responses to critical questions despite having had only two hours of sleep.
Late Wednesday in Bremerton, Wash., the pilot of his campaign plane ran the plane off the runway while it was taxiing. No one was injured in the slow-speed accident, but the left-side landing gear was buried in deep mud. The size of crowds attracted by McCain grew markedly following his victories Tuesday in the Michigan and Arizona primaries. About 5,000 people braved freezing temperatures and snow flurries to cheer him at a waterfront rally in Bremerton, and the 1,300 seat auditorium at Sacramento State was overflowing yesterday.
While emphasizing his conservative and foreign policy credentials, McCain also sharpened his populist criticisms of Bush, particularly over the issue of Bush's appearance at Bob Jones University in South Carolina.
''It's clear that campus bans interracial dating, and that'' university's ''president's been anti-Catholic and antipope,'' Mc Cain said. ''That's racism. That's racism. That's out and out racism.''
The McCain campaign is trying to heighten public attention on the Bob Jones issue, seeing it as evidence that Bush is a captive of the extreme Christian right, which played a key role in Bush's victory in South Carolina.
Bush, who has been away from the Texas capital for almost two weeks, flew back to Austin from California late Wednesday to be with his family and attend to state business.
Bush aides spent a large part of yesterday in meetings that an aide called regular planning sessions. On Wednesday, a two-day trip to Washington state was added to Bush's schedule and the Texan announced he would take part in a March 2 debate with McCain and talk show host Alan Keyes, who also is seeking the Republican nomination.
Material from Reuters was used in this report.
