GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
By Mike DeVine, Legal Editor for The Minority and HinzSight Reports
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By the most basic of criteria, John McCain is running a great campaign. He is defying history by either leading polls or being within the margin of error in July when past Dem losers led by from 7-14 points at this stage.
He is responding daily to attacks with speed reminiscent of the Cue ball Carville, Paul “the Forehead” Begala, and Hillary war room for Bill.
Today, he did something I have been praying for a republican to do, and that even Reagan didn’t do:
He not only pushed back on race card allegations, he leveled the race card charge against the Democrat. And Obama backed down.
McCain has been all over Obama’s gaffes on tire pressure, the surge, etc., and has obliterated Obama’s near dead cat Euro tour bounce.
So, it was with some distress that I saw several blogs that attacked McCain so harshly for kind words for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and his “nothing off the table” remark re taxes in any future negotiations with Democrats in Congress to reform Social Security.
President Reagan was chummy with Tip O’Neil and signed off on a Social Security rescue package that included tax increases.
McCain buttered up a lady that he may have to deal with next year and simply made a generic statement about some future SSA issue that will become obligatory to deal with as a true crisis, if not before.
Republicans, especially fellow conservatives, McCain is our nominee. I have written many columns about the necessity of holding his feet to the fire given the proof that he can be moved. But these statements were not occasions for same, in my opinion.
I am thrilled with McCain’s campaign performance and as we get closer to Election Day we should be increasingly focused on victory and less on purity.
I will lead the We the People coalition beginning January 21, 2009 to make sure our hired hand does our will.
Let’s beat Obama now.
McCain is doing fine in that regard. Obama himself is doing a better job. Pray that Obama doesn’t get laryngitis.
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Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
Legal Editor for The Minority and HinzSight Reports
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” - The Chief Justice
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Nice post Gamecock and i agree with all your points that you made, it just doesnt make sense that some people have been saying McCain is running a terrible campaign. Well if it was so terrible then how in the world is he so close in the poll’s when the Dem’s are supposed to be leading by huge margins? I think there are some things McCain and his campaign can do better, like create a theme and go with it for a while, but other than that i think they are doing a fine job, they just need to work on getting a little bit better when it comes to the ad’s also, but McCain is positioning himself very well and let’s not forget that theres still 3 month’s until the election day and still a month or so away from convention’s.
MCCAIN/PAWLENTY!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Here is what J Mac’s themes should be:
Cut spending. Keep taxes low. Balance the budget. Keep us safe.
He believes in all 4 of these things. Hammer them home. Now that he has pulled even, he should focus on positive ads about himself for a while.
I still worry about the spending advantage that Obama has in the fall.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Just because Obama is a joke doesn’t eliminate - or excuse - the way the McCain campaign is being run. The message isn’t very clear, when, with the right VP pick - and you all know who I want - McCain could position his ticket as the height of experience, competence, and leadership. And Media relations from the McCain campaign - they knew Obama was going to Europe, they knew what a big story it would be - why did they not schedule anything major for that period? They surrendered more than a week’s worth of media coverage from the McCain campaign. And the recent debacle with the VP slot - that was the height of disorganization, and, if it was planned to go just like it did, it was a bad idea. It didn’t give McCain any real coverage, and didn’t distract very much from Obama.
But McCain’s biggest mistake remains how long he waited to get his campaign off the ground. He had the nomiantion essentially wrapped up the day after Romney dropped out - that was mid-february. Why, on earth, did he not start a national campaign in early march? He could have completely outclassed Obama, announced his VP pick in June, and been in the lead in the polls right now.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Well we can’t go talking about what ifs right now, the fact is over a month ago McCain brought on Steve Schmidt and he has totally reorganized this campaign and he is doing a fantastic job of it. The organization is going great in Team McCain and the fact is he should make his VP pick right after the DNC convention and it should be someone who he trust’s and could pass the torch to if need be “Tim Pawlenty”! McCain is tied in the poll’s with Obama and as long as he can just keep it close until the conventions that will be great, b/c everyone know’s that people really start tuning into the race after the convention’s. McCain can do this you guy’s, just have a little faith.
MCCAIN/PAWLENTY!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
NPR’s MICHELE NORRIS: I want to ask you about your proposal to force big oil companies to share their record-breaking windfall profits. It’s hard to find an economist who supports the idea of a windfall profits tax. Most argue that this would stifle investment in oil discovery and oil production precisely at the moment when the U.S. should be encouraging more.
BARACK OBAMA: Classic economic theory says you don’t meddle in the markets. Look, I mean, most economists buy into that approach. Exxon Mobil made $12 billion last quarter. They made $11 billion before that, and $11 billion before that, and not all of this is going into research and development — and families need some relief.
Now, I am the first to admit that what we need is a comprehensive plan, and that’s what I’ve been putting forward for the last 18 months — making sure that we’re increasing fuel-efficiency standards on cars drastically, investing in the retooling so that we can have plug-in hybrids. I have set a goal that we reduce our oil consumption by 30 percent over the next 20 years. So that’s the long-term answer to rising gas prices.
But in the short term, the notion that oil companies that have been making record profits, hand over fist, can’t give a little bit of that back to make sure that not just drivers but senior citizens on fixed income are going to have the ability to pay for heating this winter, which is going to be a huge potential problem — I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
When people say McCain runs a lousy campaign, they mean, I think, he is tired and depressing. They aren’t talking so much about how he is doing in the polls. I got a kick out of his lowgrade, snipey commercials like The One and the Paris Hilton thing, but it doesn’t impress me that McCain has great class and character, or make me think McCain is presidential. For people like me, and I have found many, only an awesome VP pick can give us some realistic hope that there will be competence in the White House if we vote McCain. Just waiting it out…..
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Be sure and read Jerome Corsi’s new book exposing the real Obama and his hatred of America.
The book is titled “Obama Nation”. Corsi has a PhD from Haaaaaavard in political science and is the same guy that wrote “Unfit for Command”, the book that helped send Hanoi Johnny (John Kerry),into well-deserved oblivion.
It was just released today and I’ve just begun reading it.
Let us hope that it also sends the radical Obama into oblivion too.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
McCain ought to tie Obama to Pelosi and the House Democrats on the drilling issue. Just as Obama constantly carps about McCain being the “Third Bush Term” - McCain should relentlessly attack Obama as do-nothing on energy. He ought to make noise about it. He should demand that Obama call his friends in the leadership on the Democrat side to join the Republicans to write legislation to get the ball rolling. And all the while he ought to remind the public that while he is pleased that Obama is beginning to see the light after statement after statement where he was on the wrong side of the issue, his “limited drilling” is weak and he is being too tepid in trying to help regular Americans save money by lowering prices at the pump.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Well, the first step to kicking an addiction is admitting you have a problem…
The Story the Campaign Pictures Tell
By Deborah Howell, Washington Post Ombudsman
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
#5. . . That’s a classic example of Obama responding to a reporter with a non-answer, and the reporter totally failing to follow up with the obvious request to actually answer what was asked. Obama has said repeatedly that he wants the evil oil companies to share their profits, he has denegrated a private industry for actually making money (especially in this economy), and he has called for taxing the hell out of the only industry that seems to be doing well right now. Yet he has never explained just how he plans to do that, nor has he said how he thinks windfall taxes will even help anyone.
The next questions should be: Will Ford and GM pay higher taxes so more people can afford cars? While we’re at it, do you plan to sock Microsoft with windfall taxes to buy poor people computers? Will Nike and Reebok be paying higher taxes to buy elderly people shoes? How high will taxes be for Comcast so everyone can have cable tv (for when C-Span turns the cameras back on in Congress)?
Unbelievable.
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
#7 ditto
The author is impressive in his interviews.
#8 The strategy of the house repubs is working. Obama has caved on drilling after seeing Pelosi and the let them eat cake dems on Friday. We will have a drilling bill in Sept, I guarantee.
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
This is not 1976. With the global economy companies will pick up and move their hq’s to another country. If we continue to create an unfriendy business climate, we will be forced to emmigrat to another country. We have had some record levels of emmigration in recent years.
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
AGREED Nos. 1, 2 and 4
#3 McCain is going to win. That will make up for the “mistakes.”
#5 and hey Obama, Exxon paid more in taxes than the bottom 50% of taxpayers combined.
#6 So its Obama supporters that say its a lousy campaign. I understand now.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hey Guys,
Let’s come back to earth. We are drinking ourown bathwater. On September 1, after his convention speeches, Hillary’s Keynote and VP selection, Obama will be up 5-10 points or more in the polls and theGOP convention begins. How do you galvanize and begin to persuade the public otherwise. Because of a late September convention, you will have exactly 7 short weeks. Gasoline may be up because of the uncertainty in Israel and Iran. The economy may be further in the tank. 7 weeks , guys.
So, the first thing he does , with a Pawlenty or someone else that is generally unknown , is spend some time on introductions. Like Ross Perot’s VP, Admiral Jim Stockdale ” You probably want to know who I am and why am I here” kind of answers. That takes a couple of weeks with a clock ticking and the Dems pounding on you daily and spending a gazillion dollars on negative TV ads. Then, finally, after essentially getting the nomination on March 1, McCain is ready to make his move.
Sorry folks, like him or hate him, Romney is the key to a McCain ” chance” in November. That’s not an go trip, it’s just reality in 2008. Without him, we are just blowing smoke in each others ears. Yes, Pawlenty could have worked in March, Palin could have worked in March. Portman could have worked in March. Jindal could have worked in March. But only national image guys who have been ” vetted ” by a national audience are going to be of value to Mccain and with an election sitting squarely on the national economy, John still needs an economic right arm.Obama almost surely will fill his with a national security ” guru.”
That’s just Bull and if anybody thinks that’s a good campaign strategy, they are sharing a joint with Obama.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Gamecock’s two most recent posts have been, er, DeVine. =)
Adam strikes a nerve in the comments. Not only should McCain work on pointing out the illogic of Pelosi’s stance on drilling: If the oil companies won’t drill anyway, why restrict them from the outer continental shelf and ANWR by brute force of law? Why not arrange leases and earn income for the treasury instead? What gives with Obama’s proposal to rob oil co profits by way of expropriation rather than selling them leases? What are the Dems smoking?
McCain and the RNC should, instead, point out noisily that the Dems have been in power since aught six — and the economy has been in a downward spiral ever since! They promoted (and Congressional GOPers and the White House have been far too complicit) “greener” fuel mixture mandates, making everyone’s gas more expensive, even ignoring the market-driven price jumps. This same policy made everyone’s grocery bill rise, too, by taking corn off the dinner plate to put it in the gas tank.
The Dems rammed through a farm bill that costs more than two-years’ worth of fighting in Iraq! Again, the GOP congresscritters who were complicit in this and its override should be publicly shamed.
The Dems have reduced transparency in ear marking and Medicaid expense increases!
The GOP should be screaming blue murder from every pulpit and rooftop they can find! Their recent complicity and spinelessness as the opposition party will convince no one that they learned their lessons after voters sent them into the wilderness in aught six.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 pm
#15 thanks