Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

John McCain opened his California campaign headquarters in Torrance on Wednesday, sending a first signal that he does not intend to concede the traditionally Democratic-leaning state.

McCain’s California campaign chair, Bill Jones, addressed a crowd of about 50 volunteers and elected officials to drive home that message. “It is important to understand that California is clearly winnable, and Sen. McCain is committed not just to run in California but to win the state.”

Although no Republican presidential candidate has carried California in 20 years, since the first Bush in 1988, McCain is launching an aggressive statewide campaign. The campaign will have opened 70 headquarters across the state by the end of the month. California campaign manager Andrea Jones-Rivera said that the campaign has signed up 1,500 volunteers in the state over the last two weeks through the McCain website.

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