McCain lands in Burbank

BURBANK — Presumed Republican nominee Sen. John McCain touched down in Burbank on Monday en route to an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and a $1,000-per-plate evening fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

McCain’s jumbo jet landed at 2:27 p.m on a small strip of runway near the Million Air aviation company, which is tucked behind Bob Hope Airport and is reserved for private jets that have in the past carried presidents, first ladies and other dignitaries, said Ron Reynolds, manager of operations for Million Air.

The dignitary on Monday was the Arizona senator whose 737-400 arrived in Burbank about the same time Democrats began their convention in Denver, during which Sen. Barack Obama is set to be formally chosen as the Democratic nominee for president.

The Republican convention is set to begin Sept. 1, but McCain used the week of the Democratic affair to pan what he feels are Obama’s shortcomings, during his “Not Ready 08 Convention” throughout California and other western states.

The plane that took McCain from Sacramento to Burbank was bathed in blue and white and striped with campaign slogans such as “Straight Talk Express” and “Reform Prosperity Peace.”

His website name was emblazoned across the tale of the 120-foot plane.

McCain failed to address the corps of reporters gathered at the airfield, but he did greet six Republican activists who lined up near the plane’s staircase to exchange pleasantries.

One was Tierney Burke, a Thousand Oaks resident who attends UC Davis.

Tierney, 18, is the district chair of the Northern California Students for McCain and gushed at the chance to meet the candidate, whom she called a “great man.”

“I admire his service in the military and many of his foreign policy [directives],” she said.

“I think he’s making a great effort in saying California is not lost in this election.”

Hoping to ensure that others do not get that same impression about McCain’s electability in a state that last voted for a Republican in 1988 are officials in the California Democratic Party, who organized a rally outside the Beverly Hills Hotel.

“The motivation is that people know when John McCain comes to California, he knows this is Barack Obama country, not John McCain country,” said Brian Brokaw, spokesman for the California Democratic Party.