McCain Promotes Nuclear Power during Mich. Visit
Mccain Visits Fermi 2

By Tina Lam, Detroit Free Press
August 6, 2008

Article Excerpts:

NEWPORT -- As supporters and opponents demonstrated outside the gates to the Fermi 2 nuclear plant, John McCain toured the plant for 45 minutes with politicians and plant workers.

After looking into the main turbine generators and control room, he said the country needs to get serious about energy independence. He noted that his first experience with nuclear power was in the Navy.

"I knew it was safe then," he said. "I know it's safe now." He said Democratic leaders in Congress, which is now on a five-week recess, should call legislators back into session to deal with energy challenges the country faces.

McCain was accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, a strong backer of nuclear power.

"My state gets 40% of its power from nuclear energy," Graham said at Detroit Metro Airport while waiting for McCain's plane to arrive. "We should take our lead from the French. I never thought I'd say that."

France gets 80% of its energy from nuclear power and uses recycling techniques to cut down on waste, Graham said.

Graham said he, like McCain, believes global warming is a problem and that adding 45 new nuclear reactors in the U.S. will help reduce dependence on foreign oil without adding to climate change.

"We've got to come up with some other energy answers," said Mike Bouchard, former Oakland County Sheriff, who met McCain on the tarmac after his plane arrived. "We've got to look at nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas, everything we can," he said. Bouchard said people are angry about rising gas prices and meanwhile, Congress has recessed for five weeks without providing any solutions. . . .

Joan Noel, 58, a nurse who lives in Arizona but grew up in Monroe, heard about the visit and brought her camera. "I had to come out to see our next president," she said. Noel said she likes McCain's pro-life stand. She was hoping to take a photo of McCain zipping past in the motorcade to post on a wall at her work.

Barbara Stroupe, 68, is president of the Republican Women's Club of Monroe County and has been a Republican since Richard Nixon's second term, she said. A strong McCain backer, she noted that her candidate won the straw poll at the county fair recently, in a heavily Democratic county. "I think a new reactor at Fermi will help not just the county, but the state," she said.

At the airport, Goldie Feinberg, 80, was one of the lucky few who got to greet McCain as he stopped off the plane. A former Democrat and ex-Hillary Clinton supporter, Feinberg has switched allegiances and now volunteers all day, four days a week for McCain. "He's been a stand-up guy all along," she said.

One of the things she likes about McCain is his ability to work across the aisle in Congress, she said. "If anyone can unify us, it's McCain," she said.

His character, integrity, honesty and service to his country all draw her to him, she said. "He's my man."

Ruth Johnson, Oakland County clerk, said she's long been a McCain supporter. "He has a long history of demanding accountability and transparency," she said. "And what he stands for, people like."

Dave Duenow, 65, of Lake Orion volunteered for the day as a driver for part of the McCain entourage. "McCain says what's on his mind and talks from the heart," said the partly disabled Vietnam war veteran.

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