Mother says McCain is a born leader

HARRISONBURG — The woman whose son could be the next president of the United States said Wednesday he was a born leader.

“He was always a leader throughout his life without pompousness,’’ said 96-year-old Roberta McCain of her son John, the Republican presidential nominee.

Roberta McCain stopped at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Republican Headquarters Wednesday as part of a tour of Virginia.

Gray-haired but vigorous, Roberta McCain affectionately calls her son “Johnny.” And she said for many years she was known to many “as Johnny’s mother.”

  She said John McCain’s election as president would cap a remarkable life, and said it is all he wants. “He does not want or need anything. He just wants to serve God and country,’’ Roberta McCain said.

During the current tough economic times, Roberta McCain said her son is the best qualified candidate to lead America.

“With his background if something happens he can handle it,’’ she said.

People jammed the Republican headquarters to meet Roberta McCain, who spent more than half an hour posing for pictures with children and young and older adults. She was presented with flowers, cookies and jelly.77

Sue Barber of Harrisonburg found it gratifying that Roberta McCain is still alive and able to support her son.

“I think it is a wonderful thing that John McCain has his mother,’’ said Barber. “To have his mother supporting him in this process is a gift from heaven.”

Lowell Barb, a Republican candidate for commissioner of the revenue in Rockingham County, also came to meet Roberta McCain. Barb said he thinks John McCain will win Virginia despite being behind Democrat Barack Obama in recent polls.

“I think people will think about what they do in the voting booth,’’ said Barb, who pointed to McCain’s 26 years in Congress, and long military career as strong advantages over the less seasoned Obama.

Born in Oklahoma, Roberta McCain married candidate McCain’s father, Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. in 1933.

In addition to the presidential candidate, she had two other children, Sanday McCain Morgan, and Joe McCain. Joe McCain campaigned for his brother in Staunton three weeks ago.