from the desk of john mccain

My Friends,

Last week, I was humbled to win the support of 1,191 delegates and officially become the presumptive nominee of our party. It was a great honor to also receive the endorsement of President Bush and visit the Republican National Committee to begin laying out our strategy for victory in November. We face a tough challenge, but I'm confident that together we will win.

It's been a long journey. While I would like to sit back and reflect on what we've been through over these many months, there will be time for that later. Right now, beginning today, we must join together as a party. We must unite as we face either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama in November. I ask that you join me today and make a financial commitment to help our campaign replenish our resources to achieve our goals.

Now we move into the second phase of this campaign. Together, we must convince the American people that our shared conservative principles and my election as president, are in the best interests of the country we love.

And this will be, without question, the toughest phase. From this moment forward, whomever the Democrats choose, we will face a candidate directly opposed to us on every important issue facing our nation. The Democratic nominee will increase the size of the federal government, raise your taxes, and withdraw our armed forces from Iraq's front lines based on an arbitrary timetable. My commitment will be to cut taxes, reduce the size of government and bring the war to the swiftest possible conclusion without leaving the region in chaos, or an enemy emboldened to attack us elsewhere with weapons we dare not allow them to possess.

As I've said many times, this election is about big things. And it will be the most expensive election battle in history. The Democrats have demonstrated their ability to raise an astonishing amount of money for their campaign. Soon those resources will be focused on me. We must be ready. I am asking today to help replenish our resources and begin the long difficult march to victory by making a contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or even $1,000.

We have prepared for this fight for a long, long time. It begins today. We've come this far. Let's go on to victory.

Thank you,

John McCain

P.S. I cannot overemphasize how critical it is to rebuild our campaign resources as quickly as possible. I urge you to please make whatever contribution you can today, right now, by following this link. There will be no second chances in this fight. This is our moment to join together and show the strength of our party. Thank you.