Republican presidential candidate John McCain is promising that if he’s elected, he’ll do something President Bush has failed to do — capture al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.  

"I think that there have been several chances we have had, including the most likely at Tora Bora when we didn’t have enough American troops there — that’s not the first time we didn’t have enough American troops in an area of conflict," McCain told reporters in Des Moines on Wednesday afternoon. "But I’m confident that I would get him."

McCain declined to offer specifics, saying he didn’t want to reveal tactics to bin Laden. McCain met with a crowd of about 200 people who gathered at an AmVets post in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Scott Ehredt was there. Ehredt says McCain’s views on domestic issues, such as his ideas for fixing the Social Security system, mean much more to him than what McCain has to say about foreign policy. "The best thing is he’s just truthful and it seems like he wants to solve the problems that America faces," Ehredt says.

But Vietnam veteran Frank Rinehart is more focused on McCain’s foreign policy credentials.

"My reason for supporting him is we have to win," Rinehart says. "The implications of us losing and radical Islam winning are gigantic."

Rinehart rode his motorcycle from Missouri to Iowa to meet McCain on the campaign trail.