By By Adam Prestridge
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby has not endorsed anyone for president, but he said fellow Sen. John McCain is “in the driver's seat” as Super Tuesday approaches.
Shelby visited Escambia County on Saturday morning during his yearly tour of the state.
No matter what, Shelby said, the Senate is likely to lose one of its members to the White House.
The next president will be “facing some real challenging problems in the world,” Shelby said.
Those problems Shelby was referring to include, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the challenge of Muslim extremism and terrorism.
Another hot topic Saturday morning was the “shift” of the nation's wealth to other countries in the world.
Shelby said he believes there is a need for more funding to discover alternative sources of fuel to operate vehicles, the opportunity to drill for oil in the United States and the ability to build more refineries.
Other issues discussed included education, post-secondary education and Shelby's vow to continue supporting first-generation programs such as Upward Bound and adult education programs, the war in Iraq and Shelby's support of any funding for troops as long as they are in harm's way, economic prosperity in the state including ThyssenKrupp and EADS and his stand on immigration.