McCain Takes A Standing Eight Count

(CBS)  By CBSNews.com's Christine Lagorio.

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Republican Sen. John McCain was once a frontrunner in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. But his unwavering support for the Iraq war and the surging candidacy of rival Rudy Giuliani have dealt a blow to his White House hopes.

The bad news has been delivered in a series of public opinion polls. A CBS News poll taken in mid-February showed Giulani with a whopping 50-21 percent lead over McCain among likely GOP primary voters.

Both moderate and conservative GOP primary voters said they would prefer Giuliani. Forty-eight percent of conservative voters said they would vote for Giuliani to only 21 percent of conservatives who said they favored McCain.

More recent surveys conducted for the Washington Post and Time magazine contained the same kind of gloomy numbers for the Arizona senator.

"We keep doing the best we can. We're very happy with the way things are going," McCain told reporters in response to a question about him trailing Giuliani in polls.

Happy or not, McCain has moved on two fronts to reverse the slide.

He put in an appearance on the "Late Show With David Letterman" on CBS, where he announced he was a candidate for president - with a formal declaration to come in April.

McCain also unveiled a campaign finance committee featuring a lineup of business executives, investment bankers and venture capitalists. The Los Angeles Times reported that the release of the lineup was intended to show other candidates the strength of his backing among financial movers and shakers.

Despite his slide in the polls, the situation is far from bleak. Many analysts, for example, aren't certain Giuliani's surge in popularity will stand the test of time. They also point out that this is only the beginning of a long and difficult campaign.

"This is a 10-, 11-month slog," said Stu Rothenberg, publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report and a CBS News political consultant.

"McCain needs to go out to Iowa and New Hampshire and talk to folks," Rothenberg added. "He did this before well in new Hampshire, but in Iowa he didn't really compete. He has to focus Republicans' attention on some issues, and particularly on social issues. It is not like they are in crisis mode here. This is only the start."

Said GOP consultant Neil Newhouse: "Generally, this stage of the campaign is a personality contest. And later in the game, it turns into issues. Right now Giuliani is winning the beauty contest."

Even if Giuliani does fade, McCain will still need to deal with the thorny question of Iraq.

"McCain's unwavering support for the Iraq war is really dragging him down even among Republicans," said Taegan Goddard, editor of Political Wire. "Much of his political future rides on the success of the war."

[forthepeaple]

go read pentagon whistle-blower at www.scoop.co.nz vote for david a belanger for president americas for america put it out all over the web/blogs/youtub/etc,ect,he will change everything from top to bottom......

[frb01]

If you spend seven or eight years as a POW, you are an American hero. I don't really understand the McCain position on the war, the only thing I can think of is he doesn't want to lose. But it adds to his vunerablity as a candidate, along with his age and his health.

[starleo146]

Do you remember how in the last presidential election you heard over and over again Kerry the flip flop kid well Mc Cain you will hear that over and over in this election I have never seen or heard an about face more than Mc Cain.He haS BEEN SITTING IN THE OVAL OFFICE WITH HIS BUDDY Bush way too long and realy messed hiself up , he use to be known as a truthful senator now he will switch and say anything.

[seven-pesos]

mc cain is no war hero...

mc cain bombed women and children from 40,000 ft. in the air.

mc cain never faced an enemy soldier face to face in his career.

then he got his dumb *** shot down in a $40 million dollar plane.

what a piece of shiit.

just like bush... a piece of shiit.

republican shiit.

[mlfouchey]

McCain has had all the fidelity of a cheap *** the past 6 years.

Kissing anyones rear that will back him , for example -

- calling Jerry Farwell and Agent of Intolerance , then kissing his but at a Florida convention recently.

-he was against Bushs' tax cuts in 2000 saying it only benifits the rich and voted against them but then voted to extend the cuts last year.

-was for Roe Vs. Wade then flipped flopped

-has stated in 2006 that creationism wasn't a fit topic for schools but in 2005 at a creationist advocacy group conference stated all views should be presented.

He's nothing but lip service.

[sandy994]

Its time for Gore to step in. He deserves another chance since he was cheated of his win in 2000. None of the candidates running now have his experience, he is not too old, he would work on global warming and get this country back on track. And his cabinet and appointments would consist of qualified people instead on incompetent cronies like we have now. And he would work on our sullied reputation with the world community.And most important he would get us out of Iraq and get us back on a fiscally sound track. If we don't get these deficits under control, nothing else is going to matter.

[sandy994]

Its time for Gore to step in. He deserves another chance since he was cheated of his win in 2000. None of the candidates running now have his experience, he is not too old, he would work on global warming and get this country back on track. And his cabinet and appointments would consist of qualified people instead on incompetent cronies like we have now. And he would work on our sullied reputation with the world community.And most important he would get us out of Iraq and get us back on a fiscally sound track. If we don't get these deficits under control, nothing else is going to matter.

[dallison7]

Anyone who honestly thinks that the republicans held up their end of the 'Contract with America' the past six years should probably vote for them.

[formrusmcsgt]

Very few people in this country are ignorant enough to want 'more of the same'. Gingrich can easily be portrayed as synonymous with Bush. He might do better than the dopes that are now in the republican mix, but he still has zero chance.
Posted by dallison7 at 08:50 AM : Mar 03, 2007

Gingrich represents another branch of the Repubs than Bush, Dallison. Remember the Contract with America he sponsored? Just in case:

FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;

SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;

THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;

FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;

FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;

SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;

SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;

EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

[formrusmcsgt]

HEY SGT HAVE YOU GONE TO READ THAT
Posted by forthepeaple at 09:30 AM : Mar 03, 2007

Yes, I read it earlier this morning. I agree with all she has to say.