The Candidates
I just received this tip from a CPAC attendee:
“Your take on McCain’s people anonymously pushing personal attacks on Rudy is 100% accurate.”
“McCain’s supporters are invisible at events like CPAC — but make no mistake, they make their influence felt. Two well-dressed young ladies came up to me and asked if I’d like some information on Rudy Giuliani. Their attire sticks out — most activists pushing candidates like Romney and Brownback are wearing t-shirts with stickers for their candidates. These girls are wearing no stickers for anyone. They gave me three articles. One, the Placa story. Two, the Politico article on Rudy’s judges. And three, a D.C. Examiner piece insinuating Rudy is a draft dodger. Later on, placards start appearing touting the results of the S.C. straw poll in which McCain mysteriously gains 50 votes overnight.”
“The way they operate is strikingly similar from event to event. Just recall the stunt they pulled at the SRLC last year. Placards suddenly start appearing urging a vote for President Bush in the straw poll (to distract from McCain’s dismal performance). People notice that it tends to be well-heeled folks from D.C. distributing the materials and wearing the stickers. In both cases, you have well-dressed activists who are not actively pushing McCain (which would be suicide) but trying various skulduggery to jam up his opponents.”
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 am
Desperate measures from a desperate man.
I wonder how long McCain will last.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:14 am
Did you see this story from:
http://www.foxnews.com/
“Bad Move? Why is Sen. John McCain skipping out on conservative conference”
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:24 am
So GOP Activist, I guess the moratorium was short lived.
BTW, about Rudy and dodging the draft, I didn’t think that was particularly controversial. It’s a matter of public record and I’d known about it for at least the past two years.
I guess I don’t get how this, if it’s even true, can be considered gutter politics. Rudy supporters were passing around the Camenker dossier on Romney at his recent event in South Carolina. Romney’s guys returned the favor by pushing that YouTube montage of Rudy’s various liberal positions. But no one raised any particular objections to that or felt that it constituted gutter politics? Yet somehow if McCain’s people (and again, we have to idea if they even were) pass around a high pro-file article in the Examiner, that’s just bad form. Is there not a double, or triple standard here?
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:44 am
LJ,
Why did McCain skip CPAC?
It obviously was not a scheduling confilt.
“UPDATE: Apparently, it isn’t a scheduling problem, either. McCain tried to organize a reception for attendees at the Omni Shoreham duing the conference without engaging with the event’s organizers:
Sponsors of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which begins today in Washington and brings together thousands of conservative leaders and grass-roots activists, say the Arizona Republican has “dissed” organizers by attempting to schedule a private reception for attendees after rejecting invitations to speak at the event.”
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:47 am
Guilani Notes: The Spartanburg Straw Poll Part 3…
McCain wins close state straw poll
Sen. John McCain narrowly won a presidential straw poll held in the northern part of this early voting state, local Republican officials said Friday.
McCain beat former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani by just two votes…
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:51 am
I have my doubts that the Senator is behind this. He and Rudy are pretty close with each other, and their friendship is fairly well documented.
I hope this is not true, as I admire both, even though I’ve been in Rudy’s camp for a very long time.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:52 am
GOP Activist,
In fairness I don’t think that reported story is true. As matter of fact I am all but sure it is not.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:58 am
GOP Activist,
His is what Byron York of the National Review said:
So, there was a legitimate conflict of scheduling.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:37 am
Man, if McCain’s long time strategist says there was a conflict, then it MUST be true.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:46 am
Geoff,
These were long planned events.
I will admit that I thought that McCain should’ve at least made an appearance at CPAC, he might not have won any converts, but it would’ve been a friendly gesture. Now it’s being (incorrectly) portrayed that McCain is purposely snubbing conservatives.
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:32 am
LJ,
This was a major PR blunder. McCain’s long time strategist did a very poor job of explaining that conflict to CPAC and the press.
It’s sounds more like a CYA excuse.
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:42 am
LJ,
I don’t quite understand. Okay, so he had conflicts. It didn’t keep him from announcing on Letterman. CPAC is only three miles from his office. And if his previous commitments kept him from attending, why did his campaign staff then attempt to set up a separate room at CPAC so delegates could meet McCain one-on-one? How can he say that he can’t find the time to speak to the whole convention, but he can find time to one-on-one with delegates?
Either he couldn’t physically be there, or he couldn’t. If he could be there in the same building during CPAC, why could he not make a speech?
LJ, this is a serious PR goof on McCain’s part.
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
Since Rudy will win the nomination and the general election, Rudy supporters need to expect this and should stay above the fray.
March 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 am
Grant,
You think that, if it gives you comfort.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I am at CPAC and McCain tried to pull a stunt by trying to book a room for a reception, but not coming here to test the waters. He badmouths CPAC and his statement was mentioned at the event last night. McCain
was BOOOED… as in REJECTED by the people of CPAC. Some people want to take their vote back from the
straw poll. He had every chance to stand like a MAN and he decided not to be here.
BUT WHEN RUDY DECIDED to speak, that was the catalyst to get McCain here in D C.
SORRY MCCAIN, YOU LEAVE WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT FROM CPAC. YOU ARE TOAST.
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:19 pm
This website is really on the verge of jumping the shark. AGAIN, if you don’t have proof that a candidate is engaging in “GUTTER POLITICS” then put a sock in it. Where is this “evidence” that McCain’s people are spreading Rudy rumours? Not a shred of it exists. The only time I have heard mccain say anything about rudy is to call him an “American Hero.”
It is becoming very clear that the only people engaging in gutter politics are the very people on this website who are smearing other candidates with false charges. Put up or shut up!
March 7th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Back to the issue of the South Carolina straw poll. Does anyone know for sure exactly how many precincts there are (legally) in Spartanburg County? On the night of the voting (last Thursday night) Fox News provided a report around 10pm EST with 71 of 75 precincts reporting…..Then the next day when the counting resumed the local newspaper was reporting that there were 92 precincts. This seemed a little odd to me as did the fact that all these McCain votes somehow turned up the next day when he had been well behind Giuliani and Hunter throughout the counting the night before. Were additional precincts created overnight—or just additional votes for McCain? Btw, does anyone know who the County Chairman (Beltram, I think) is supporting? I suspect that it is McCain, am I wrong?