McCain’s Second Shot
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election
So, a couple hiccups, and McCain feels like he has to restart his campaign. I understand why, but man…this is early on in the campaign. Money means something right now, but not that much. Howard Dean raised a ton back in 2004, and you see where that got him on election day in Iowa.
Still, if John thinks he has to call a redo, then so be it. But if he screws this one up…will he restart a third time…and a fourth? When is it too late even though it’s WAY early.
“He’s very worried about the burn rate,” said a key McCain supporter. “They’re bringing Phil Gramm in to get the spending side under control, and they’re bringing Tom in to try to raise more money. We feel good about both of them. I feel like the campaign is starting over again.”Campaign manager Terry Nelson, who was national political director of Bush-Cheney ’04, said he is convinced McCain now has the right plan. Nelson said the campaign has already shown its strength in early states with a ground organization that has turned out enthusiastic crowds to see McCain.
“This is a campaign that is built to win – it’s going to win,� Nelson said. “I don’t think you could talk to
any of the other campaigns and find they wouldn’t want to be the John McCain campaign in terms of its overall strength.�
Ahh, so it’s about the money. Fair enough.
But what can he do to fight the allegations from Kerry that his own aides offered him up as VP fodder in 2004? Well, the entire McCain campaign is calling BS on Kerry, and I can’t say that I blame them. The right-wing blogosphere has been buzzing with how McCain is done given these new revelations.
But stil…what to do?
Again, from Politico…
They contend that Kerry pursued the maverick McCain repeatedly but was rebuffed decisively on each approach. “Each conversation, McCain would say, ‘No, John, no,’ and raise objections,� said Mark Salter, who was McCain’s Senate chief of staff then and now is senior adviser to his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.“Then, Kerry would say, ‘Would you just please do me a favor? Will you listen to my pitch if I come back to you with another idea?’� Salter said. “McCain just said, ‘It’s not going to work.’ And then Kerry would come back with preposterous ideas, essentially turning over the national security part of the presidency to McCain.�
Kerry made the comments Monday in Portland, Ore., during an interview with Jonathan Singer of MyDD.com, one of the most prominent liberal blogs, which posted audio of the exchange on Tuesday.
Honestly, I’m more likely to believe McCain on this one. Kerry has pretty much zero credibility with me, and feels like the type of guy who would say somebody did something because it had the appearance of that…when the reality was something far different.
Either way, McCain is going to have problems convincing people this thing with Kerry didn’t happen without calling him a liar. In other words, this could spell the end of the McCain/Kerry friendship.
Maybe not such a bad thing…
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April 4th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Frankly my take so far (and I realize it’s still really early to say much of anything) is that Romney may have a chance, if only because the social conservatives hate Giuliani and have swiftboatloads of money. I’m actually hoping he wins the Repub primary, because even though he’s a total douchebag and would be a disaster as president, there’s not a chance in hell Romney could even come close to any of the Dem frontrunners except maybe Hillary.
McCain is already a lame duck candidate, he’s too old and has done too much flipflopping and pandering to be considered seriously. People used to think he had integrity but he has ruined that image over the past few years.
I still hope Gore runs…a Gore/Obama ticket would be unbeatable, and would set Obama up for a 2016 presidency…ahh, 16 years of dem presidents…I’m salivating thinking about what that could do for the Supreme Court, especially with a dem controlled Senate. Failing that, my next choice is Edwards, then Obama. I’m against Obama only because I don’t think he’s quite ready yet, other than that I have no real problem with the man, and think he’d be the perfect VP.
April 4th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
As you know Sleipner, I don’t credit you with Mensa credentials between the ears. But this statement is the kind of drivel that gets one a special guest appearance on The View.
The fact is, the Democrats do not yet have a serious contender that could beat Giuliani, Romney, or, (and talk about having one’s fingers crossed) Fred Thompson. Sorry, keep looking and good luck, but as it stands, the Dems are not going to win in 2008.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Gore isn’t going to run. The big contributors will be tapped out by then.
The other guy from Tennessee, however, may just have a shot…
Conservatives loved Reagan. Sounds like they could fall for another actor. And I mean that in a good way. Politicians need to be good communicators, and actors understand communication better than anybody, at least to an audience.
And personally, I like the reform message that Thompson was running on back in 94. But what will his message be this time around? I think Bush tired the voters out on the folksy route, and that’s basically Thompson’s schtick.
It’ll be interesting to watch.
April 5th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
John McCain has already lost his presidential campaign after his assanine trip to Baghdad. He pulled a hundred soldiers, snipers, and attack choppers off their normal routine to protect his photo op at a marketplace. Then he declared the area safe.
A couple days after he left, 21 people were killed at the same location.
April 6th, 2007 at 1:17 am
Actually, Dos, I scored 1440 on the SAT (back before they made it easier), 1510 on the GRE, and usually test around 150-160 IQ…so I am quite qualified to join MENSA. Now granted, my degree was in computer, not political science, so probably my wishful thinking tends to affect my opinions slightly ;) And in return, just as you tend to think liberals are weak in the brain, I tend to think Republicans are weak in the conscience.
And the likelihood of Romney winning is about the same as President Bush parachuting out of Airforce One and landing on your head in drag.
Giuliani is the only Republican candidate who has a reasonably good chance of winning at this point, and only if he can get past the rabid fundie hatemongers in the primaries. He’s the only Republican running that doesn’t make me throw up (much). Don’t really know enough about Thompson yet to have an opinion either on him or his chances.