Strange Enemies In Michigan
Governor George W. Bush's affair with Michigan, brief but meaningful, is going the way he wants it to. He's grippin' and grinnin' across the Lower Peninsula Monday, assuring voters he's "taking nothing for granted."
Polls show him neck and neck with John McCain, but that's to be expected; they showed him neck and neck with McCain in South Carolina, too. "I like what I feel here in Michigan," Bush told reporters in Detroit.
Then there's Senator John McCain, in an uphill battle and getting scrappier by the minute. Apparently, running a "campaign you can be proud of" entails charges of "character assassination." In Traverse City on Monday morning, McCain spoke in dire tones, urging Michiganders to "reject this negative campaigning... You deserve better than the trash that's on your television set and over your radio."
Later, in an interview with CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, McCain said he was battling for the soul of the Republican Party.
"This is about the heart of the Republican Party. Are we going to let Jerry Fallwell tell us what the party should do?" he told Rather.
| Follow The Dollar Here is the CBS News estimate of the campaign finances of George W. Bush and John McCain through Tuesday: Bush has raised $70 million and spent $59 million, leaving him with $11 million. McCain has raised $29 million and spent $27 million. He has $8 million, including $6 million in federal matching funds. (McCain and other candidates who accept matching funds are limited to $40 million in total spending.) The estimates are based on FEC filings through Jan. 31 and information gathered on spending and fund-raising in February. |
Meanwhile, it's Bush who says things like "The only way to reach out to voters... is to have a consistent message that's positive and hopeful." Just as in South Carolina, he doesn't mention McCain in his stump speech; and even his sessions with reporters are calmer and less focused on his opponent than they were a few short days ago. Bush knows that the high road's a lot easier to take if you're winning.
Still, Bush has some points he wants to get across. Campaign finance reform is one of McCain's top issues, and he often talks of "breaking the iron triangle of lobbyists, legislators and money." But Bush has criticized McCain for weeks for accepting money from those same dastardly lobbyists. Monday, Bush snorted, "He talks about the iron triangle - he's been ringing that iron triangle like a dinner bell."
Aside from sneering at Bush, McCain is spending more time talking about his harrowing experiences in Vietnam, where he was held prisoner for five and a half years. His biography is one of the most appealing things about his campaign, which is taking on a sot of "courage under fire" tone ranging from the profound horror of his time in Vietnam to a hackneyed metaphor from a popular movie.
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 The Blessed CenterCan John McCain make George W. Bush pay for his hard right turn in South Carolina? |
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McCain closed his remarks in Saginaw Monday with a moving story about a fellow prisoner sewing an American flag on his shirt, despite the punishment he suffered for doing so. McCain finished talking, and the theme to "Star Wars" blared. McCain started comparing himself to an embattled Luke Skywalker right after New Hampshire, and he took that comparison to new heights Monday. "We're gonna kill 'em, right?" he demanded of his young audience. "I'm getting out of this Death Star and we're gonna win this election. You guys gotta help me. Who's going to be R2D2?" There were no takers.
The cloud on Bush's horizon is Democratic interest in the Republican primary. He's bothered by an ad that describes Bush and his backer, Michigan Governor John Engler, as "dumb and dumber." Geoffrey Fieger placed that ad - he's best known as Dr. Jack Kevorkian's lawyer and he also ran against Engler two years ago.
"The only thing that can stop us," Bush told supporters at Michigan State University, "are those Kevorkian lawyers, those liberal of liberal Democrats who want to come into the primary and then turn around and vote for Al Gore."
Between Fieger and Vader, Bush and McCain are fighting some strange enemies.