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News Specialist John Daley reportingOne of the nation's most powerful and influential political figures visited Salt Lake City today.
A packed audience turned out at the University of Utah to hear Republican Senator John McCain -- and he did not disappoint.
Arizona Senator John McCain held a town meeting on his favorite topic, campaign finance reform and the continuing crusade for corporate, media and political reform.
But that wasn't all McCain discussed. He weighed in on issues ranging from Iraq to his party's difficulty in reaching out to the minority community.
On corporate reform he drew a big cheer when he said "some bad people need to go to jail" to really change things.
On campaign reform he advocated free TV time for political candidates.
McCain took a number of questions from the audience, and spoke to us in a one-on-one interview before the event.
McCain says money IS corrupting our political system.
"When one corporation pays $500,000 to a fundraiser they're interested in little more than good government. Therefore what it does is it locks us into position," McCain says.
"Why don't we have a an HMO patients bill of rights? Why don't we reform the tax code? Why don't we have a prescription drug program for seniors? Why don't we do the things we need to do? It's because special interests have such greater influence than the public interest," he says.
McCain said the new campaign finance rules which bear his name are a good first step. Also today, McCain spoke out on global warming, saying we need to start reducing the production of greenhouse gases.
"Global warming is real. Climate change is real. We're seeing that in Utah. You can see it just by looking out the window. In Arizona, we have the driest year in the history of our state," he says.
