McCain to contest for Senate in 2010

Phoenix (Arizona, US), Nov.26 : losing Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that he will run for a fifth Senate term in 2010.

McCain, however, laughed off suggestions on running for president again.

According to CBS, he said he does "not envision a scenario that would entail that."

McCain also lauded President-elect Barack Obama's decision to tap Arizona's Republican Governor Janet Napolitano for the post of homeland security chief, saying she is highly qualified for the job.

He said that he would look back "with pride and honor" on the experience of running for president in 2008.

"I will submit myself to the judgment of history. I'm very proud overall of the campaign we ran and the people I was associated with and the dear friends that I have to this day," he was quoted, as saying.

Commenting on running mate Sarah Palin, he said: "I think that our base and most Americans viewed Governor Palin as a real breath of fresh air that swept across the country," McCain said, calling the Alaska governor an "energizing factor."

Asked where the Republican Party goes from here, McCain said that one of the lessons of the election "is that people want us to be fiscal conservatives. I think that Americans decided to state the obvious, that they wanted a new stewardship of our country, particularly as far as the economy is concerned."

ANI