HAMILTON (AP) - Presidential primary candidates hit the road this week, traveling across the country for last minute campaigning before Super Tuesday. Arizona senator John McCain stopped in Hamilton on Monday, defending his conservative credentials while making the promise to work together with the Democrats next year.
"I am optimistic, I am enthusiastic and I am confident that I can win this election. But more importantly, I can lead this nation and motivate all Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest," McCain said.
Joining McCain at the fire station in Hamilton was former New York City mayor and former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.
Despite the outward confidence of McCain, the Republican race turned negative on the eve of the busiest day in primary history.
"We're going to hand the liberals in our party a little surprise," boasted Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, criticizing John McCain for his positions on tax cuts, gay
marriage and immigration, and
predicting an upset win in delegate-rich California.
McCain struck back a few hours later Monday with a TV ad that showed Romney in a 1994 debate against Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, saying he was "an independent during the time of
Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
McCain projected confidence, not only about wrapping up the nomination but about November's general election as well.
Unwilling to leave anything to chance, both men hastily rearranged their schedules to
make one more late stop in California, the largest state, with 170 delegates.
Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton raced through the final hours of an unpredictable Super Tuesday campaign across 22 states.
Clinton held an emotional reunion with a colleague from the early days of her legal career as a child advocate. The candidate was close to tears while revisiting her law school days while hosting a campaign event at the Yale Child Study Center where she first pursued her interest in child advocacy. Aside from Connecticut, Clinton made a stop in Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, Obama visited Giants territory Monday, appearing at the IZOD Center at the Meadowlands.
Obama was introduced by actor Robert DeNiro, who said it was his first speech at a political event. He was booed when he said Obama didn't have the experience to be president - the experience to vote for a war that has damaged the United States or the experience to be beholden to special interests, DeNiro explained.
"That's the kind of inexperience our country deserves," DeNiro said.
Obama also campaigned in Connecticut and Massachusetts as well.
Super Tuesday features a total sum of 30 Democratic and Republican primaries across the country.
