DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: McCain hit the campaign trail again on Saturday, and CNN's Bob Franken say that now he's focusing on the biggest primary plum there is: the state of California.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John McCain is on a roll, greeted here at the California GOP convention just South of San Francisco by large, boisterous crowds of supporters. Here was McCain, in the largest primary state of them all, bringing his antiestablishment message to part of the establishment. And the crowds were loving it.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are going to take the government out of the hands of the special interest and the big money people, and give that government back to you, and that's what this campaign is all about.</s>FRANKEN: However, McCain did hold three private fund-raisers himself during his overnight stay in California. His opponent, Governor George W. Bush, decided not to even come to the state. Instead, he chose to regroup in Austin, Texas for new strategy sessions. In the process, he irked many of the California Republicans</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he should have been here, at least for a day.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he doesn't show up, his opponent will think that he doesn't care. Bush is already responding to the McCain surge, with a much more aggressive campaign, including a tough new ad. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BUSH CAMPAIGN AD) UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: On taxes, McCain echoes Washington Democrats, when we need a conservative leader to challenge them.</s>MCCAIN: I will not run a negative, and anybody that does, you should repudiate them.</s>FRANKEN (on camera): How times have changed, John McCain, the improbable candidate, is now trying to convince California Republicans, Republicans everywhere that he is the unstoppable candidate. Bob Franken, CNN, Burlingame, California.
McCain Hits Campaign Trail on Saturday, Focusing on California