McCain: Gearing up
Posted: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:23 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2008, McCain
The Wall Street Journal looks at how McCain is preparing for the general.
Big Labor is starting to spend money to go after McCain.
The New York Times reports that Bush's sudden about face on FEC appointments was done at the urging of McCain who needs a functioning FEC in order to get his money for the general election.
The Washington Post has a story about a McCain backer who is benefiting from an Arizona land swap with the federal government. McCain back the legislation to allow the swap to happen. "Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.”
Noting the GOP’s losses in two special congressional elections for GOP-held seats, NBC political analyst Charlie Cook writes about the troubles the Republican Party is having in his latest National Journal column. “An important thing to remember … is that when a political party is experiencing bad times, it doesn’t catch many breaks. When a party is riding high in the polls and has a popular president, its flawed or inferior candidates can win in favorable or even neutral districts. But when times are bad, a party can field superior, unblemished candidates and still lose in neutral or unfavorable districts. And in hard times, a party may need stellar candidates to win even in favorable districts.”
Nevermind Democratic infighting, how about the Republicans? The Boston Globe front pages: "McCain is sailing toward his coronation as the Republican presidential nominee while the Democratic candidates battle fiercely. But Republicans also are engaged in some tough infighting that could disrupt the national convention and make it more difficult for him to unite the party in the fall.
"Across the country, at state and county GOP conventions, diehard supporters of maverick Ron Paul are staging uprisings in an effort to secure a role for Paul at the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. And in the four primaries since clinching the nomination in early March, McCain has yet to reach 80 percent of the vote, as Paul and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee continue to siphon away votes, even though Huckabee has withdrawn from the race.
"The lingering anti-McCain sentiment among some voters and the continuing Paul insurgency suggest that McCain has not fully quelled hostility from some elements in his party."
McCain did toast the Democrats at the Time 100 gala in New York City. "Sen. Obama is a man of unusual eloquence who has performed the great service of summoning to the political arena Americans who once thought that it was of little benefit to them. Sen. Clinton has demonstrated great tenacity and courage. I count myself among their many admirers."
The DNC has made a "tourist map" for McCain's planned ferry ride today in New York City, which is supposed to take him from Manhattan, down the East River to New Jersey. The DNC’s map points to landmarks that the DNC says McCain opposed funding for or voted against -- like clean-up and sea walls for the East River, the Williamsburg Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and port security.
