World Apr. 01, 2008 - 06:33AM JST ( 28 )

WASHINGTON —

Republican presidential pick John McCain Monday slipped his general election bid into high gear, seeking an early edge with the rancorous race for his Democratic foe still undecided.

The Arizona Senator launched a week-long tour highlighting key aspects of his compelling life story, putting his presidential bid in the context of his family’s generations of military service, and his own heroism as a navy pilot.

Democrat Barack Obama, meanwhile, made further inroads into the ranks of super delegates, the top party officials who will decide the nomination, since neither he, nor Hillary Clinton can now win the race without their support.

McCain opened his tour in Mississippi, near an air base named after his grandfather, a decorated admiral, where he himself once flew, and also spoke about his father, a submariner who also rose to the top of the navy.

“They gave their lives for their country, and taught me lessons about honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership that I didn’t grasp until later in life,” McCain said.

“I have been an imperfect servant of my country for many years, but I am their son, and they showed me how to love my country,” said McCain.

McCain is trying to define his own image, before Democrats can paint him in a negative light, and is stressing his military record, including five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

He is also trying to subtly distance himself from President George W Bush, and parry attacks from the dueling Democrats who say he is incapable of managing an economy seemingly heading for recession.

Obama accepted the endorsement of Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Senator, in another blow to the morale of the Clinton camp, following a steady stream of superdelegates to Obama’s side.

“The energy that Barack has unleashed is impossible to contain,” said Klobuchar, adding that Clinton, facing rising calls from other Obama backers to pull out of the race, had every right to go on.

Democratic party chiefs are increasingly concerned that the bile-filled Democratic race could damage whoever comes out on top, divide the party, and hand the Republicans a chance to hang onto the White House.

Some observers have suggested a party graybeard is needed to step in a negotiate a soft landing, after Clinton vowed to keep fighting until the party’s nominating convention in August.

But one man often mentioned in such a role, former Vice President Al Gore told the CBS show “60 Minutes” “I am not applying for the job of broker.”

Klobuchar was the 64th superdelegate to endorse Obama since the Feb 5 Super Tuesday nationwide nominating showdown, according to his campaign.

The race to win the 2,025 delegates necessary to capture the party nomination is so close that neither Clinton nor Obama can pass that hurdle by capturing regular delegates alone in the coming primaries.

That leaves them courting the nearly 800 superdelegates who can vote how they like at the convention.

McCain’s tour will continue later this week with visits to Virginia, where he went to school, the U.S. naval academy in Maryland, and Florida where he was once based as a young pilot.

The ferocious infighting between Clinton and Obama, seems to be helping McCain, as he has now moved into slim leads of around one point in a Real Clear Politics average of matchup polls against both his potential Democratic foes.

Obama was Monday pushing on with a charm offensive in Pennsylvania, the next state to weigh in with nominating voters on April 22, and where he still trails the former first lady by double digits in opinion polls.

Clinton was also in Pennsylvania, bringing a message of economic reform to a state hard hit by the loss of traditional blue collar manufacturing jobs, now stalked by fears of recession.

AFP