NEW YORK, March 2, 2007
McCain Takes A Standing Eight Count
Support For Iraq War, Surging Giuliani Candidacy Damage Senator's Presidential Hopes
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Play CBS Video Video McCain Declares He'll Run CBS News RAW: During a taping of "Late Show With David Letterman," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., confirmed that yes, he is running for president.
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Who's Who 2008 Democratic Hopefuls Clinton, Obama and Edwards lead the chase for the Democratic nomination.
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Who's Who 2008 Republican Hopefuls McCain and Giuliani head up the Republican pack chasing the presidency.
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.
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."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 95 Commentsmc 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.
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.
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.
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.
McCain/Romney - Republican
Gore/Leiberman - Independent
Gore/Leiberman a clear win.
Posted by 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 08:35 AM : Mar 03, 2007
I think Gore could handily take the rest of the Repub field. I think Gingrich would give him a real race, however.
Gingrich would lure back a lot of Repubs that Bush has driven into the Independent ranks, in my opinion.
The Independents will determine our next president. We are now 35% of the electorate. It's all about who gets more Independent votes this time around.
Posted by formrusmcsgt
Regardless of who the republican candidate is, they have no chance.
I would personally like to see Al Gore in the race to ensure that the tree huggers don't get stupid again and throw their votes away to someone like Nader.
ROFLMAO!!!
Posted by dallison7 at 08:14 AM : Mar 03, 2007
Hey, bro. You forgot to mention the magic underwear! lol
Your points are precisely why I would not be surprised to see Gibgrich step in at a later date.
1. A male slvt who stands against everything they believe in
2. A 70 year old has-been who can't decide where he stands on the issues, and likes to fall asleep in public, and
3. A flip-flop member of the most bizarre cult on the face of the earth who believes 'in his heart' that scripture was revealed to the 'prophet' Joseph Smith by a 'talking salamander'
ROFLMAO!!!
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