With only two weeks until the US presidential election, Republican nominee
John McCain is trying to turn the political tide his way and reverse opponent
Barack Obama's lead in the polls.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 20, 2008) NBC -
Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain is fighting for his
political life two weeks before the presidential election. According to the
latest Reuters/C-Span/Zogby poll, McCain is trailing Democratic Presidential
Nominee Barack Obama by more eight points just two weeks before the
election.
McCain, who has cast himself as a fighter and maverick of his own party,
tells supporters that he faced adversity before and knows how to win.
On October 26, 1967 McCain, then a Navy pilot, was shot down over North
Vietnam while on his 23rd bombing mission. He ejected, broke both arms and a
leg and was knocked unconscious. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war
in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was denied necessary medical
treatment, was often beaten and served much of his
captivity in solitary confinement.
McCain spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war and declined offers to be
released earlier than longer-serving prisoners after the Vietnamese discovered
he was the son of a U.S. admiral. Upon his release, he regained flight status
and continued his Navy career. His last assignment before retiring in 1981
was as naval liaison to the U.S. Senate.
McCain won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in
1982. He served in the House until 1986, when he won a seat in the U.S.
Senate, where he has served ever since.
McCain ran for president in the 2000 election but lost the Republican
nomination to George W. Bush
McCain's latest quest for president barely survived in 2007 when the
Arizona senator's campaign was nearly bankrupt. His stance on an immigration
bill also cost him support of many in his party.
McCain secured the Republican nomination in March of 2008, months before
his Democratic opponent Barack Obama emerged victorious from his party's
primary season.
One day after the Democratic convention, McCain announced Alaska Governor
Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Obama has cast McCain as a candidate who would simply continue the
policies of the Bush administration. McCain has tried to distance himself,
saying he has disagreed with Bush on the way the Iraq war was conducted,
spending, torture and climate change.
McCain's voting record is mixed. The nonpartisan National Journal did not
give him a ranking on its liberal-conservative scale in 2007 because it said
he did not vote frequently enough to earn a scorsystem.scripts. than half the
votes in the economic and foreign policy categories. The American Conservative
Union gives him a 82 percent conservative lifetime rating.
If elected, McCain would be the oldest president to be sworn in for a
first term.