April 1, 2008
McCain Transforms Campaign As Dems Battle
Washington Post: GOP Candidate Developing Strategies, Tactics For General Election Showdown
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Play CBS Video
Video
Learning About John McCain
Sen. John McCain opens up about his life, family and military service. Harry Smith reports.
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Video
McCain Talks Issues
John McCain is in Mississippi to kick off a new chapter in his campaign. He talks to Harry Smith about the top issues facing Americans.
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Photo
John McCain has been moving toward a general-election operation by boosting fundraising, establishing control over the Republican National Committee, and beginning a conversation with voters who live in states where he has not campaigned. (AP)
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Timeline
McCain's Quest
Mileposts in the Arizona senator's race for the GOP nomination and the presidency.
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Photo Essay
John McCain
Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
From Our Partner:
As his Democratic presidential rivals squabble, Sen. John McCain has moved to transform his ragtag primary campaign into a general-election operation by boosting fundraising, establishing control over the Republican National Committee, and beginning a conversation with voters who live in states where he has not campaigned.
One of McCain's first decisions has been to assemble a novel and risky campaign structure that will rely on 10 "regional managers" who will make daily decisions in the states under their direction, his advisers said. The managers will gather today in New Mexico to plot strategy with GOP state officials.
Some Republican strategists have said that McCain has not made the best use of the extra time that the prolonged Democratic nomination battle has given him. They have criticized the pace and direction of his decisions and have questioned why the senator from Arizona has not held more fundraisers to close the huge financial gap between him and his rivals.
Despite scheduling numerous events designed to grab attention, including a trip to meet with leaders in Iraq, Israel and Europe, McCain has struggled to be heard during the battle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. The few times he has broken through have largely been because of questionable decisions or mistakes, such as when he confused Sunni and Shiite extremists and when he was criticized for accepting the endorsement of a controversial television evangelist.
McCain embarked yesterday on his latest effort to capture the spotlight: his "Service to America" tour. The week-long journey will put him in locations that have been influential in shaping his life -- including his family's ancestral home in Meridian, Miss.; the Naval Academy in Annapolis; and the naval air station in Jacksonville, Fla., where he arrived after more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
The growing McCain team is also under no illusions about the financial and political energy of the opposition, noting the huge turnouts in Democratic primaries and the enormous sums of money Obama and Clinton have raised.
In February, the month he effectively clinched the GOP nomination, McCain raised $11 million -- an eighth of the combined total of his Democratic rivals.
A number of Mitt Romney's supporters said McCain's effort to win over his ex-rival's biggest donors has had mixed results.
"Some of the top leadership, who were very emotionally involved, still can't get over it," said Brad Freeman, a California financier who backed the former Massachusetts governor. "They said, 'Hey, I'm not being rational. But right now I can't.' Fact is, Romney inspired a lot of loyalty and enthusiasm in people."
Aides to McCain said that fundraising has improved, and that they raised $5 million in a five-day West Coast swing last week. Senior adviser Charles R. Black Jr. said the March fundraising take will be "an impressive number," though he declined to provide one.
One element that will work in McCain's favor in coming weeks is the formation of the Republican Party's Victory Committee, which can put together events that are held jointly by the senator and the Republican National Committee. Those events can bring in nearly $30,000 per person because the limits for giving to the RNC are much higher than those for candidates.
The naming last month of Lew Eisenberg, a former partner at Goldman Sachs and one of the heaviest hitters in Republican money circles, as the finance chairman of the Victory Committee silenced many of McCain's critics on the fundraising front.
"Will it come together? Yes," said a top fundraiser who supported one of McCain's GOP rivals and is now backing the senator from Arizona. "Is it coming together? Yes. Are there folks who would have liked it to come together quicker? Yes."
Polls suggest that McCain's position on the sidelines of Democrats' infighting has elevated his stature, at least for now. In some surveys, McCain has a slight edge over Obama and Clinton. And conservative Republicans appear to be growing more comfortable with the sometimes maverick senator as their nominee.
But McCain's advisers acknowledge that the Republican Party still has an image problem. Generic ballot tests, whether for presidential or congressional elections, show Republicans running well behind Democrats, and part of the campaign's goal is to start rebranding the GOP.
McCain recruited two key officials at the RNC: Frank J. Donatelli, a Reagan administration official, will serve as deputy chairman and will be the campaign's liaison to the committee. Mike DuHaime, who managed former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaign and used to be an RNC political director, will help staff the RNC's political team. He will also work directly for McCain.
By Michael D. Shear and Dan Balz
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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See all 123 Comments[14] JOHN McCAIN
PREHISTORIC POLITICIAN
There"s something charming about this maverick politician who spent half a decade in solitary confinement in the Hanoi Hilton. Charming, that is, until you realize this crazy-as-a-Canadian-coin escaped-nursing-home resident wants to grab the reins of the world"s last-remaining (and fast-declining) superpower. And then conduct a thousand-year campaign in Iraq. His s*exiness isn"t helped by the fact that his skin is slowly sloughing off his skeleton. Or that his left-hand blinker has been on for the past three years."
[Bill Clinton and Eliot Spitzer also made the list. Barack Obama was conspicuous by his absence.]
http://thephoenix.com/unsexy/
"All in all, John S. McCain III family - 3 army generals, 2 navy admirals including a 4 star admiral."
- Posted by trapbreak at 10:17 AM : Apr 01, 2008
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How do you think he got into the Naval Academy ? On his own merits ?
He "graduated" 894 out of 899.
No thanks. Right now we need brains in the White House.
That wasn"t very nice, CBSNews.
:)
- Posted by trapbreak at 10:48 AM : Apr 01, 2008
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John Hagee kind of brains ?
No.
Barack Obama kind of brains.
Until you can find and publish the quote of Barack Obama saying any of the outrageous things Hagee, Wright and Farrakhan have said, you are preaching to the Right Wing Hate Corner. And they are already converted.
"The Reverend Wright issue is played out. Poll after poll has now shown it has not swayed undecided voters. If anything, it has strengthened Barack Obama" - David Brooks, yesterday on PBS. (Brooks is Jewish, by the way).
That approach worked so well in 2004.
Go play that "McCain Talks Issues" video at the top of this story. It consists of a lot of "I don"t know...I"m not sure... Frankly I don"t know..."
That"s not going to play well in the debates.
By the way, will somebody please tell McCain to turn his right turn blinker off ? It"s been on for the last 5 years.
McCain finished a little better at Anapolis. 894 out of 899.
America can"t afford another George Custer in the White House.
A knee jerk "Bomb Bomb Bomb" is not the right answer to the call at 3 in the morning on the red telephone.
Posted by trapbreak at 11:17 AM : Apr 01, 2008
Probably as polled by FOX Noise..........
- Posted by trapbreak at 11:15 AM : Apr 01, 2008
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Then McCain has no excuse for not rejecing Hagee"s endorsement out of hand.
Obama kicked Wright off his campaign.
McCain genuflected with Hagee.
No excuse.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hwW3btvk_KQ
McCain finished a little better at Anapolis. 894 out of 899.
America can"t afford another George Custer in the White House.
A knee jerk "Bomb Bomb Bomb" is not the right answer to the call at 3 in the morning on the red telephone.
Posted by Iceman_1960
Nor can America afford an Oreo who has no military experience and has no understanding of foreign policy. American can''t also afford an opportunist who invents "right wing conspiraces" or "Bosnian snipergate". Neither can lead because neither can follow.
- Posted by mudrose at 11:22 AM : Apr 01, 2008
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Look, I am no big fan of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but I must condemn this racist attack on her character.
Of course John Murtha would have been a much better choice for Secretary of State, but that is no reason to blast Condi.
No excuse.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 11:21 AM : Apr 01, 2008
It proves that McCain will kiss anyone''s as*s to try to win the White House. He once was a man to be respected, but now he''s become a pathetic pander bear. If he had any pride left he''d go back to AZ and put a bullet in his skull.
Posted by trapbreak at 11:24 AM : Apr 01, 2008
ROTFLMFAO!!!! Rasmussen!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!
They''re the polling wing of the GOP! They have less credibility then FOX or the Washington Times!
LOLOLOLOL!!!
- trapbreak
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Kerry was leading by 7 at his point.
Your old man is dead meat.
"Chill out. We"re going to win this election" - Bill Clinton. (He"s right.)
one of you neocons name a deal she has closed?
come on, name one?
and senile McBushCain four more of the same
if you like whats going on you are a fool
- Posted by SgtRDS at 11:26 AM : Apr 01, 2008
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I wouldn"t go that far. John McCain is a nce old man. I used to do volunteer work at a Retirement Home, and I met a lot of sweet senior citizens.
Some of them were a little confused about things.
Like John McCain assuring everybody that "I have always said that Iraq would be a long hard struggle."
Early on McCain had been predicting a quick, walk-in-the-park victory in Iraq.
He isn"t lying now. He just dosn"t remember.
We"ll all probably be the same way at that age.
Posted by mike71067 at 11:33 AM : Apr 01, 2008
No worries. Obama has more then enough money to take out a senile old warmonger.
We"ll all probably be the same way at that age.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 11:35 AM : Apr 01, 2008
You''re right. It''s not his fault that he doesn''t remember he once was a man to be respected. I apologize.
-Posted by SgtRDS at 11:35 AM : Apr 01, 2008
Not if the Hillary/Obama feud continues. Also, the more we learn about Obama, the more we distrust him. We already know everything there is to know about McCain. The liberal New York Times tried smearing him earlier this year, but it didn''t work. Obama still has PLENTY of skeletons in his closet. The ones we''ve seen so far have been doosies!
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Still whining about Wright ?
Save your breath. You"ll need it for your "Sour Grapes" posts in November.
"Poll after poll has shown that the Wright flap has not swayed undecided voters. If anything, Obama has been strengthened by it." - David Brooks, yesterday
Posted by mike71067 at 11:38 AM : Apr 01, 2008
Clinton may be low on funds, but Obama is up $31 million and can raise millions more with nearly no effort at all. As for not trusting him, at this point the only people who don''t are people who wouldn''t have voted Democratic anyway, so no worries there either. Why bother trying to convince pro-McCainies to vote for Obama when they were ignorant enough to vote for Bush before? We don''t want or need their votes.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI
To visit a url fractured by CBSNews, like the one above,
- copy the whole thing to your email notepad;
- get it as much as possible into one line;
- copy/paste the result to the browser address field.
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=i
oy90nF2anI
To visit a url fractured by CBSNews, like the one above,
- copy the whole thing to your email notepad;
- get it as much as possible into one line;
- copy/paste the result to the browser address field.
Was the above explanation useful to you ?
__ Yes
__ No
Posted by Iceman_1960
Anything you people post is worthless. You are probably one of the 3 out of 4 high school students that have dropped out.
John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis. 889 out of 899. As trapbreak pointed out, his father and grandfather were Admirals. That"s how he got in.
Barack Obama is a member of America"s intellectual elite. He graduated with high honors from the world"s most demanding law school, and later became a Professor of Constitutional Law at the prestigious University of Chicago.
(UC regarded him as a full professor (*))
When you clear away all the irrelevant smear attemps, it is a choice between a great mind, and a Forrest Gump.
(*) UC: Obama was a Professor:
(*) Was Barack Obama really a constitutional law professor?
Yes.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_barack_obama_really_a_constitutional_law.html
That should read:
"John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis. 894 out of 899."
Thanks for that update.
By the way, we just heard back from the Japanese Paratroopers Academy. Your application has been rejected. Sorry.
Posted by Iceman_1960
What did you find the application in a bottle while you were playing hookey?
That should read:
"John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis. 894 out of 899."
Posted by Iceman_1960
He still beats Al Bore in Divinity School with a C average who invented the Internet and Now Global Warming or is it Al Bore Passing Gas.
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Forrest Gump was a big hero in Vietnam too.
Of course, he"s a fictional character.
Which fictional movie character does McCain most remind you of ?
Forrest Gump ?
Chance, the Gardener, in "Being There" ?
Lt. Col. Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now" ?
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Forrest Gump was a big hero in Vietnam too.
Of course, he"s a fictional character.
Which fictional movie character does McCain most remind you of ?
Forrest Gump ?
Chance, the Gardener, in "Being There" ?
Lt. Col. Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now" ?
Posted by Iceman_1960
Did the Japanese Paratroopers drop you out of their planes off the Scandanavian Coast in 41-42 without a parachute Icey?
Oreo reminds me of Our Gang. What was the name the little guy with all the rags on his head?
Bunch of winners?
Posted by trapbreak
Jimmy Carter is very partial to Islamofascists. He gave us the Mullahs of Iran.
- Posted by trapbreak at 12:09 PM : Apr 01, 2008
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He recently had that title taken away.
Brains (Jimmy Carter is no guarantee of success, but stupidity (Jerry Ford, Dubya) is a good predictor of failure.
McCain isn"t running against Al Gore, and would lose to him anyway.
Mccain is running against Obama (probably) and will lose to Obama.
Your hero Bill Clinton, after all his egregious scandals, ended his second term with a 65% approval rating. The best in modern times. Look it up if you don"t believe me.
The American people know what the bottom line is.
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Posted by mudrose at 12:13 PM : Apr 01, 2008
Your knowledge is stunning!! ROFLMAO No wonder YOU are a bootlicker!! Sieg Heil Bush!!
Posted by MCVet
You people have no problem with McCain''s age. We have no problems with Oreo.
- Posted by mudrose at 12:13 PM : Apr 01, 2008
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Ronald Reagan colluded with them when running for President, and later rewarded them with secret arms shipments.
Reagan also supported terrorist groups in Central America, saying "One man"s terrorist is another man"s Freedom Fighter."
Reagan should have been tried for treason and shot by military firing squad.
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Posted by mudrose at 12:19 PM : Apr 01, 2008
report abuse
Wow! You aren''t even close... I mean not even in the same ball park as REAL history. But typical fascist garbage... VERY good on the hate targets and good attempt to put everyone in a box but your history!? It''s awlful. Say did you skip your history classes in 4th grade... bet you did so you could go to those Klan Rallies didn''t you? By the way the guys who attacked the WTC the first time??? They are in Jail, Care to tell us all where those are who ordered the attack the Second time? Hummmm Sieg Heil Bush! Dumb as a box of rocks!!
He later shipped arms to Iran secretly, in violation of the law, then basically took the 5th when questioned about it ("I can"t remember.I can"t remember".)
Even mudrose and trapbreak, et al, could put 2 and 2 together if Jimmy Carter had done all that.
Yet they feel entitled to question Barack Obama"s patriotism on the most flimsy pretexts.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 12:20 PM : Apr 01, 2008
As should Bush for his war crimes.
That"s the third or fourth time I"ve made that typo.
- Posted by SgtRDS at 12:34 PM : Apr 01, 2008
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That"s right. I"d probably support the candidacy of a Clint Eastwood.
And McCain was fairly dumb as a young man too.
If his father and grandfather hadn"t been Admirals, he would only have gotten into Annapolis as a dining hall cook.
Barack Obama rose to high academic distinctions by the sweat of his own brow, not by his pedigree.
The American people know what the bottom line is."
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The only reply of the Right is to invoke their Eleventh and Twelvth Commandments:
XI: Thou shalt attribute all bad things that happen under a Democratic President like Jimmy Carter, to his own policies.
XII: Thou shalt attribute all good things that happen under a Democratic President like Bill Clinton, to other factors and circumstances he had nothig to do with.
yawn................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
It isn''t Obmaa''s claim that McCain wants to stay in Iraq 100 years, it''s McCain''s claim. He said it. It was in the news. It''s on videotape just like Hillary''s heroic liberation of Bosnia.
Secondly, do you really think that someone running for President keeps up with what their Preacher is writing in the newspaper? Why should he care? Is he the Preacher''s caretaker?
I care what the candidate''s say and what people authorized to speak for the candidates say.
McCain had his hateful Preacher appear at a political rally to attack Catholics then refused to apologize for him. Obama has not invited Wright to speak at any rallies and has condmened his remarks.
He did the right thing while McCain has not. So where''s the outrage with McCain?
Typical, just like Obama, his supporters change what actually happened when they speak.
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Posted by Iceman_1960
Barack Obama got where he is by having people hand him things on a silver platter. There are a lot of people as smart as Obama who were never offered the things Obama has been offered.
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