DES MOINES, Iowa (AFP) — Republican White House hopeful John McCain came face to face with a 1,259-pound pig named Freight Train Friday and vowed to further open up world markets to US products.
McCain also reiterated his desire for greater energy independence through offshore oil drilling and nuclear power as he addressed hundreds of people attending the 13-day Iowa State Fair.
"This is the heartland of America. This is what America is all about. This is the people I want to know and meet," McCain said, devoting most of his speech to foreign trade, an issue critical to the livelihoods of many Iowa families.
If the United States approved of a free trade agreement with South Korea, for example, Iowa, which is the country's leading corn and soybean producing state, would greatly benefit, he said.
"My mission and my job as president of the United States, one of them will be to make sure that every market in the world is open to your products," McCain said.
He again lambasted Democratic hopeful Barack Obama for calling on Americans to properly inflate their tires to get the best gas mileage.
"I'm all in favor of inflating our tires, don't get me wrong. But that's a public service announcement. It's not an energy policy," McCain said.
Accompanied by his wife Cindy, McCain also visited a life-sized sculpture of a cow made of butter and ate a pork chop on a stick.
But fairgoers expressed mixed reactions to McCain's visit to this key midwestern swing state won in 2004 by President George W. Bush.
"He talked about energy independence yet he voted against ethanol subsidies and he is opposed to the farm bill," said Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan.
"He talks about things that he doesn't back up, that he's never backed up in his time in Congress."
Democrat Nancy Brown said however she planned to vote for McCain, won over by his plans for a healthcare insurance problem that she and her family face.
"The more I hear Obama, the more I think he can speak well, but can't act," Brown said.
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