John McCain looked under the hoods of Ford hybrids and watched as Ford Focuses were assembled Thursday during a Michigan campaign stop the Republican candidate hoped would give some gas to his less-than-cordial relationship with domestic automakers.
McCain's trip to the Motor City's suburbs was dogged by allegations he'd had an intimate relationship with a lobbyist. He denied that Thursday morning during a stop in Ohio.
A news conference that was to take place at the Ford plant Thursday afternoon was canceled by the campaign.
McCain and his wife, Cindy, donned safety glasses and were escorted around the sprawling Wayne Stamping and Assembly plant by Ford Motor Co. executives and Republican Party supporters.
The Arizona senator met with Ford executives before the tour and was to meet later in the afternoon with executives from the Detroit Three -- Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC -- in Troy before heading to an evening fundraiser at the nearby Somerset Inn. He was to head to Indianapolis for another fundraiser after that event.
After looking at the undercarriages of Focuses passing overhead as workers added parts, McCain stopped to look at a Ford Escape hybrid and Ford Edge plug-in hybrid before wrapping up his 20-minute tour.
He called Ford's efforts to make more fuel-efficient vehicles and ones that can run on alternative fuels "very important."
"It's the future, and I'm glad they're doing it here," he said. Campaign workers gave McCain little chance to interact with the media, at times stopping them from accompanying McCain on the tour.
Dozens of the 2,800 Ford workers employed at the plant watched as McCain made stops to speak briefly with workers and see what they were doing.
Among them was Dave Herant, 49, an automation engineer from Romulus who has worked at the plant for 11 years. He said he'd consider voting for McCain, who like him is a military veteran.
He said McCain's visit "lets us know he cares. ... I hope that's that signal that's coming."
Herant said McCain should come away with a better understanding of the domestic auto industry after the tour and his discussions with auto executives.
"We all need the auto industry to be talked about. (It's) a lot of jobs, a lot of people," he said. "I think we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we make high-quality vehicles."
Ford spokesman Mark Truby said McCain met before the tour with Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas, and Joe Hinrichs, group vice president of global management.
"We were thrilled to have Senator McCain here in Wayne to have an opportunity to hear about our turnaround and some of the great products and technology," Truby said. Ford invested $130 million last year to upgrade the 55-year-old plant to build the Focus, a popular small car that saw its January sales rise 44 percent above a year ago.
State Rep. Craig DeRoche, a McCain backer from Novi, accompanied McCain on the tour and said he was glad to see McCain mending fences with the auto industry after knocking heads with the domestic automakers over tougher fuel efficiency and emission standards.
"He's here asking how he can help ... with this important industry," DeRoche said.
Asked about the allegations about an improper relationship with a lobbyist written about by the New York Times, DeRoche called them "a silly distraction."
"To make a big case out of the senator having a friendship with someone years ago isn't going to keep us safe," DeRoche said, adding he doesn't think voters will pay much attention to the flap.