With Foe In Limelight, McCain Gets Folksy

CBSNews.com Reports: Republican Counters Obama's Foreign Trip By Spotlighting Pocketbook Issues At Home

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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As Barack Obama was meeting with dignitaries in Israel on Wednesday afternoon, John McCain was in a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania grocery store, trying to make a point about high food prices. It was there, as Newsweek reports, that the presumptive GOP nominee was jokingly asked, during some "stilted" small talk near the check-out registers, if he was going to be bagging any groceries.

It's been that kind of week for McCain: The following day, as his Democratic rival was speaking to an estimated 200,000 plus enthusiastic Germans at Berlin's Victory Column, McCain was talking with a few dozen people at a German restaurant - in Ohio. Political pundits have seized on these sorts of contrasts to characterize the McCain campaign as "flat footed" or worse, arguing that Obama has completely dominated his opponent this week.

Ask the McCain campaign, however, and they'll tell you that the situation is nowhere near as grim as the pundits suggest.

"I don't think the national media is in touch with what's going on out there," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said. He said that the McCain campaign has gotten "tremendous local and regional coverage" this week, pointing to news reports in places like Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Rochester, New Hampshire.

Rogers may have a point: The cover of the New Hampshire Union-Leader on Wednesday featured a large photo of a smiling McCain and the headline "Back, and on attack"; Thursday, Wilkes-Barre's Times Leader proclaimed "McCain straight talks W-B," while Pennsylvania's Citizens' Voice featured a full-page color shot of a waving McCain Thursday and a headline about the candidate coming to town.

"Our focus this week is talking directly to hardworking Americans about the issues that effect their lives," Rogers said. Asked if Obama's international trip plays into their strategy because the presumptive Democratic nominee is not focused on everyday pocketbook issues at home, Rogers had this to say: "We run our campaign based on John McCain's priorities. But it's a nice contrast for us."

For all the talk of Obama's recent success, the race remains relatively close: Most recent national polls show Obama in the lead, but the average spread is only 4 points. As the Obama campaign has looked to widen that gap with this week's international tour, the McCain campaign has counter-programmed by zeroing in on the economic concerns of average Americans. Obama may look good in Berlin, the implicit critique goes, but he's not going to get milk under $4 per gallon.

"What we've been doing is going into important markets, and target states, and talking about economic policies and gas prices," said McCain senior advisor Charlie Black. "It doesn't make national news, but it dominates the news in the markets we're in."

Nonetheless, even the most optimistic members of the McCain camp would have to concede that this week has not exactly gone smoothly. McCain had to play defense on national security when critics accused him of misstating the Iraq War timeline in an interview with CBS News. His planned trip to an oil rig to advocate for offshore drilling to lower gas prices was canceled thanks to hurricane Dolly. An oil spill on the Mississippi River made for a powerful talking point for opponents of his drilling plan. And he (once again) made reference to Czechoslovakia, despite the fact that that country has not existed for 15 years.

Still, the campaign believes it has made progress in battleground states even as Obama has dominated the national headlines and the media have engaged in hand-wringing over the the Arizona senator's campaign. Black suggested the national media have a tendency to overestimate its importance - "The question folks [in the national media] have to ask is how much influence do you have versus local news and everything else that goes on in a campaign," he said.

McCain vowed this week to spend his time "campaigning across the heartland of America and talking about the issues that are challenging America today," and he has focused on high food and gas prices. Obama, McCain and his surrogates have suggested, doesn't recognize the importance of finding short-term solutions. Adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said in a conference call Thursday that McCain's policies are the ones that address "the real economic duress that people feel right now."

Not everyone feels that message is getting out. Conservative activist Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, said McCain's economic message is actually better than that of President George W. Bush, arguing that if voters understood the difference between the candidates, "Obama would be ten points down, not a couple points up."

That message is simply not reaching their ears, Norquist argued - though he didn't blame the McCain campaign for that.

"How could he command attention? I don't know - short of torching himself like a Buddhist monk," Norquist said. "He has a good message. But it is difficult to get the establishment press to cover those stories. I do not expect Time Magazine will put on its cover how many dollars Obama will cost your family."

Critics have knocked the McCain campaign for being largely reactive in recent days - running advertisements in places like Berlin, Wisconsin, as a cheeky response to Obama's Berlin speech, for example. But Black, McCain's senior advisor, brushes off such concerns, saying he feels comfortable with how the week has gone.

"Obama is spending the week trying to enhance his commander in chief credentials - with some voters he has to pass a threshold on that," he said. "Be he hasn't moved in tracking polls, and we're going to beat him on the commander in chief issue no matter what he does. So we're focused on the domestic issues, the pocketbook issues." (While Obama trails on the commander in chief question, McCain trails on the economic front: The Arizona senator was seen by just 31 percent of respondents in a recent CBS News/New York Times poll as the candidate is "better able to improve economic conditions." Obama was cited as "better able to improve economic conditions" by 51 percent of registered voters.)

Rogers put it more bluntly.

"200,000 screaming Germans isn't going to do it for him," he said.

[pr_boxer]

Here''s more proof Bush/McCain "SURGE" "WORKED"
---------------------------------------------
Female bombers kill 68
Posted: 08:39 AM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) %u2014 Female suicide bombers targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and Kurdish protesters in Kirkuk on Monday in separate attacks that killed at least 68 people and wounded more than 160 others, police and government officials said.

In the Iraqi capital, three women detonated explosives Monday morning at separate locations in the central Karrada district within 30 minutes of each other, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The bombings killed at least 30 people %u2014 most of them Shiite pilgrims %u2014 and wounded 83 others, the ministry said.

It was the second straight day that attackers have targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad taking part in an annual march to one of the holiest shrines of Shia Islam.

Also Monday morning, a woman detonated explosives at a Kurdish political rally in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a police official said.

Following that suicide bombing, gunmen started firing on the crowd from different directions, the official said. The attack killed at least 38 people and wounded 178 others, he said.

More than two dozen suicide attacks have been carried out by female bombers in 2008 %u2014 up from eight in 2007 %u2014 according to U.S. military figures.

[averjane]

RAOUL14

How shallow. That''s all you guys want to see is photo ops. Who the limelight media makes and breaks. They determine your decisions because you have proven you can''t think for yourself with such mindless non-thinking remarks. You are the very ones they judge the rest of us by. No wonder they think they''re so smart and we''re so dumb and we need them to overturn laws we fight hard to put into place.

And in my earlier comments, I hope you all were smart enough to realize that I meant to say, the media is so far left they do not even know what''s right.

[averjane]

lordmi

Yes you will go right on ahead won''t you? You will continue to go down the path of ignorance. Swim in your own stupity as you support a candidate who loathes America like you do and wants to promote a one world government. Get back with us in a few years to see how that''s going and we''ll say, we told you so. The media is so far left it doesn''t even know it''s right. They always make McCain look the worst they can. They are biased and have their own agenda. One that Obama wants and they are happy to brainwash you with it. If you really want to hear all of the truth, visit the Family Research Council, and LifeNews.com. You will see the side of Obama the media doesn''t show. But that''s only if you want to hear "the truth", not your truth.

[lordmi]

to liberty_1776 - in fact - that is YOU, who sounds like an Idiot.
The most educated and intelligent people will NEVER vote for empty McBush.
Keep swimming in Your stupidity, we will go ahead.

[starleo146]

They are clueless - I live 40 miles from I-35 and 40 miles from I-90

Posted by IOWEIGN at 08:44 PM : Jul 26, 2008

I am so glad you told me i thought it was awful what this man said and i am glad you a are a Us citizen and canadians are good people as well

[ioweign]

IOWEIGN at 03:51 PM : Jul 26, 2008

I am so sorry for the ignorance that appear on this forum, Let me say I have enjoyed your comments both pro and con, and never have I seen you insult as this person did. Know you have a US citizen that appreciate Canadians, and they are helping us in Afghanistan and thank you Canada in Iraq too.

Posted by starleo14672 at 05:30 PM : Jul 26, 2008

They are clueless - I live 40 miles from I-35 and 40 miles from I-90

[starleo146]

It''''s really funny that all the national "polls" favor Obama. Now every liberal idiot in the US thinks Obama is going to easily win the election. The fact is, only jobless bums on welfare are home to answer those polls. People who work for a living don''''t have time to waste participating in opinion polls that don''''t mean sh*t. Wasn''''t Hillary leading Obama by a mile in the national polls before she got beat? Get ready, liberal dreamers. McCain will win by 20%. I guarantee it.

Posted by liberty_1776 at 11:55 PM : Jul 25, 2008
+ report

Not only Librals will vote for Obama but Independents and republicans that can''t stand Mc Bush. Only the bigots and narrow minded and uneducated will vote for Mc Same

[starleo146]

IOWEIGN at 03:51 PM : Jul 26, 2008

I am so sorry for the ignorance that appear on this forum, Let me say I have enjoyed your comments both pro and con, and never have I seen you insult as this person did. Know you have a US citizen that appreciate Canadians, and they are helping us in Afghanistan and thank you Canada in Iraq too.

[starleo146]

Any US citizen who votes for Obama can count on the support of Hamas and all the other enemies of the United States of America.

Posted by liberty_1776 at 04:43 PM : Jul 26, 2008
You are one of these narrow minded bigots that float around this country, and make me sick, and makes our country sick along with it. What right do you have to insult a person from another country you Bushite. Canadians are good and loyal ,and we do not have many these days so go back in your hut, and this country could well do without the likes of you

[liberty_1776]

IOWEIGN, for a Canadian, you seem overly (disturbingly) interested in US politics. What is your malfunction? Regardless, I''ll make this simple for you and other foreigners who are so interested in OUR politics:

Obama = Muslim wimp

McCain = war veteran

Any US citizen who votes for Obama can count on the support of Hamas and all the other enemies of the United States of America.

[obbcbs]

McCain is SO folksy, only with a millionaire wife.
He doesnt need a healthcare system that works for all the people.
You whiners about ''socialism'' dont know what socialism even means.
We need a system that does deliver health care and education for everyone, including people who cannot get into the Naval Academy or Harvard, who just want to be a plumber or electrician.
Notice the word social ism has the word social in it. Society, can make sure that all are cared for. The alternative is to have prisons caring for the same people and we pay $35K per person to keep them in prison and they learn no usable skills and for the same $35K we could teach them medical technology or computer programming.
The capitalist system has failed. The rhetoric about anti-socialism wont sell when people are laid off. The first big payoff when the morgage system collapsed was a $100 billion payoff to the investment banks.
Bush veto''d the plan to help the actual public who were going to lose their homes. Dont think we are not in a socialist system now. It is just that it is only for the rich. The rich get the biggest cuts in taxes under Bush and McCain''s plans. The rich get total bailouts when they make bad decisions. But the poor get laid off when their plant is shipped to China and they get nothing. Socialism exists in the USA but it only for the Republicans. Save the rich, not the trees and whales. That''s the Bush plan. ONE HUNDRED BILLION of your dollars to the investment bankers.

[ioweign]

hungry1968, this country was not founded on your socialist ideals. This is NOT your home. You belong in a socialist mecca like France or Germany. There, everyone belongs to a labor union, the government will tell you what days it is legal to work on, and you can enjoy your "free" universal health care. So please go.

Posted by liberty_1776 at 11:15 PM : Jul 25, 2008

Has McCain ever received a paycheck that was not signed by Uncle Sam...

McCain has 71 years under the Federal Health system and you are putting down universal health care...

[samsel3]

YOU DO NOT LIKE THE USA IN THE MIDDLE EAST,,,
Posted by terrorislamv at 09;50 AM : Jul 26, 2008

On January 26, 1998 in a letter to the President the PNAC asked Clinton to invade Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein.. Clinton refused their request.

Coincidentaly, the invasion of Iraq took place after George Herbert Walker Bush''s meetings with the Saudis at Walker Point in Maine. The Saudis and Saddam were enemies in the oil business. Saddam was getting back at the Saudis after Desert storm by undercutting oil prices. The Saudis and Big Oil wanted to get the prices up so they took out their chief competitor....

[mostlympc]

"Barack Obama is a brilliant, inspirational leader; John McCain is a warmongering psychopath who wants to bankrupt the US Treasury in his mania to wage perpetual war."

Exactly! and, hopefully, the cretinous, low-information voters will NOT prevail in this election, as they did in 2000 and 2004

[tbweb]

Posted by terrorislamv at 09:50 AM : Jul 26, 2008,,,

lars, you are back with yet another new name? CBS kicking you off that much quicker now? You change your name 4 times a month now, wow lars! I see you added the letter "v" at the end, you got w,x,y and z left! You may have to come up with a whole new name, hey, maybe you can start using lars again and remember the Beslan girls .... :)

[tbweb]

chose to go to a gym because he couldnt take his cameras and interviewers in to gaulk at the wounded trips.

POTENTIAL president goes to a gym instead of using an opportunity abroad to visit SICK TROOPS???????????

THAT''''S GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME OF YOU? WELL SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

Posted by fenner at 02:44 AM : Jul 26, 2008,,,

Spin Meister fenner, there you go again, disguising your hate as if you really care about an issue, you and others like you would be complaining if Sen. Obama did visit wounded troops! The Pentagon informed the Senator that since his campaign was paying for the trip it could be interpreted as a political visit, using wounded troops as a photo op and Sen. Obama wisely didn''t want to take that chance. That decision makes sense to me, if the U.S. was paying for the trip because of an official visit Sen. Obama would not hesitate to visit wounded troops! You and your ilk are looking for anything to grab onto so you can smear Sen. Obama, keep trying Spin Meister fenner, few are biting on this one!

[ajaxtheleast]

What the repubs really DO have going
for them is that we already proved that
we are capable of electing a war criminal.
so electing merely a stupid person should
be a breeze.

Go McCain! Just what America needs,,,,
a four-foot-six-inch president to match
the respect level that eight years of a
repub president brought us down to.

CANT WAIT TO SEE McCAIN STANDING
NEXT TO OBAMA,,,,,,,,,,,

For the TV audience to hear McCain
the microphone will have to
be placed in Obama''s belt buckle

The complete package:
small, stupid, ugly and a liar.

[tbweb]

The US is a free republic, not a democracy or a plutocracy. True democracy would be "mob rules" - the USA was never intended to be a "democracy."

Posted by liberty_1776 at 11:28 PM : Jul 25, 2008,,,

Maybe thats true, but the USA was never intended to be a dictatorship either! American politicians usually find a happy balance, follow the will of the American voters for the most part, but rarely give American voters a heavy dose of apparent Dictatorship on a consistent basis like now! The preference was always to obey the will of the American people which is expressed through voting. If the Voters will be ignored then why vote at all, what is the point?

[PacificGatePost]

ARE REPUBLICANS REALLY DETERMINED TO WIN THIS ELECTION?

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/07/john-mccains-peculiar-path-along.html

%u2026 perhaps not.

[randynason]

McCain will win by 20%. I guarantee it.


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Posted by liberty_1776

If Gramps wins by 20%, it will be in the, "Yes, I am a Freaking Putz Poll," conducted courtesy of the Repugnican Party and funded by the National Sausage and Cheese Corporation.