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McCain Says He Won’t Abandon GOP for Reform Party

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<i> From Times Wire Services</i>

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Monday that he had no intention of abandoning the GOP for the Reform Party, as Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura suggested.

Ventura, the highest-ranking elected official of the Reform Party, said Sunday that the Arizona senator would make a strong Reform candidate.

“Although I am flattered by his kind words, I would instead ask him and his supporters to consider pursuing our shared reform agenda through the party to which I am a proud and loyal member--the Republican Party,” McCain said in a statement.

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He called the Republican Party “the real party of reform.”

“I intend to reach out to Reform Party members and reform-minded voters everywhere to support my candidacy for president because our cause is greater than partisan politics.”

McCain trails the Republican front-runner, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, in recent public opinion polls and in fund-raising.

Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire quit the Republican Party earlier this month and said he would continue to campaign for the White House as an independent.

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McCain made his comments at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights group, in Houston. Bush was not scheduled to attend.

McCain spoke at length about his central campaign issue--the need for campaign finance reform. “The influence of money is corrupting our ability to address the problems that directly affect the lives of every American,” he said.

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