McCain: A 'troubled stretch'?
Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:11 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Look for the media to play "Where's Waldo" today in trying to catch a glimpse of McCain and Bush together at their fundraiser in Phoenix. The Wall Street Journal: “President Bush and John McCain will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix Tuesday, the first time in nearly three months that the Republican presidential candidate will be seen beside the man he hopes to succeed. With Mr. Bush's popularity at a record low, the McCain campaign has made sure that television footage of the two men together will be minimal. The maneuvering is the latest example of Sen. McCain's aggressive effort to separate himself from the White House, even as he embraces many of the policies that Mr. Bush has promoted throughout his presidency.”
McCain’s “campaign has asked Bush, who will be stumping for the Arizona senator next week, to scale down the events -- and they are planning to move the appearances behind closed doors, according to Politico.com,” the New York Post writes. “The move is intended to curb the negative impact of being associated with the unpopular president while capitalizing on Bush's draw with the conservative base, the Web site reported.”
Here’s a Sunday New York Times piece that generated lots of discussion: “Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign is in a troubled stretch, hindered by resignations of staff members, a lagging effort to build a national campaign organization and questions over whether he has taken full advantage of Democratic turmoil to present a case for his candidacy, Republicans say. In interviews, some party leaders said they were worried about signs of disorder in his campaign, and if the focus in the last several weeks on the prominent role of lobbyists in Mr. McCain’s inner circle might undercut the heart of his general election message: that he is a reformer taking on special interests in Washington.”
On the other hand, conservative commentator Jennifer Rubin makes a pretty good defense of McCain and makes the case that it's Obama who is struggling right now, not McCain. "Now, pundits may be right that the McCain camp has a way to go in sprucing up its money and communications apparatus. He does in fact need a better defined agenda and a ‘narrative,’ as Karl Rove explained on Sunday. Still, with all that, it is hard to make the case that Obama has been improving his standing with the public and surging to a dominating position in the general election since he was crowned the presumptive nominee. It is easy to figure out why. In part, Obama simply does not win the news cycle when the topic is foreign policy, and specifically his own ever-shifting statements. And in part, the Obama-mania novelty is wearing off. (The latest graduation speech sounds eerily reminiscent of a dozen stump speeches we have all heard before.) Finally, it is a truism that the public likes a winner, and the weekly drubbings he has received at the hands of the already declared runner-up have likely dimmed his allure.
None of this is to suggest that Obama is not the favorite or that McCain doesn’t face tough challenges. But the conventional wisdom that recent events have been helpful to Obama’s cause seems wrong. Put differently, Obama is likely anxious not to repeat the controversies, gaffes and foreign policy scrutiny - not to mention the election losses - that have dominated the news. So maybe, this is not exactly the best of times for Obama."
The Washington Post's Kessler notes McCain has broken with Bush on North Korea policy.
Be sure to take notice of McCain's Memorial Day Web ad. It's directed at Hispanics -- but also whites, who McCain may believe need an education about Hispanic contributions in the military. It's a sure sign that one thing that complicates Obama's attempts to turn the Rocky Mountain West blue is McCain's comfort at courting Hispanics and the credibility he has with Hispanics because of the immigration issue.
