Political Perceptions: An Unorthodox McCain Campaign Emerges
Here=92s a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:
By Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray
mccain_april18_art_257_20080418072625.jpg
Sen. John McCain signs autographs during a commercial break of the
taping of =93Hardball College Tour=94 at Villanova University in
Pennsylvania Tuesday. (Associated Press)
Both out of necessity and personal preference, Sen. John McCain =93is
gearing up to run one of the least traditional presidential campaigns
in recent history,=94 Politico=92s Jonathan Martin says. =93Facing the
prospect of competing against a Democrat who is on track to shatter
every fundraising record =97 and confronted by his own inability to rake
in large bundles of cash =97 McCain and his key advisers have largely
been forced into devising a three-pronged strategy that they hope can
turn their general election weaknesses into strengths.=94
McCain will, Martin writes, =93lean heavily=94 on the well-funded
Republican National Committee to perform some campaign functions; will
decentralize his campaign by relying on =93an unconventional structure
of 10 regional campaign managers=94; and =93will rely on free media to an
unprecedented degree to get out his message in a fa****on that aims to
not only minimize his financial disadvantage but also drive a
triangulated contrast among himself, the Democratic nominee and
President Bush.=94 The problem is, Martin notes, that nobody is sure
such a strategy can work.
The recapping of Wednesday night=92s Democratic debate in Pennsylvania
continues, with Pete Wehner writing on National Review Online that the
=93debate was a bad one for Senator Obama, both substantively and in
style. He was on the defensive because of associations he=92s had,
things he=92s said, and positions he=92s embraced.
Indeed, the last six weeks have been damaging ones for him. People who
were once impressed with Obama are beginning to wonder if the image he
projects =97 post-partisan, post-ideological, post-racial, a uniquely
unifying and hopeful figure for America =97 is deeply at odds with the
man himself.=94 Wehner, a former Bush White House speechwriter who once
was higher on Obama now concludes that =93for Barack Obama, the magic is
gone.=94
The New York Times=92 David Brooks agrees, noting that over the course
of the primaries Obama has moved from an unconventional leader to a
run-of-the-mill politician and liberal. =93He sprinkled his debate
performance Wednesday night with the sorts of fibs, evasions and
hypocrisies that are the stuff of conventional politics,=94 Brooks
notes. He cited Obama=92s assertion that he never attacked Sen. Hillary
Clinton for her remarks about the Tuzla air****t. Then he denounced
taking other candidates=92 words out of context =97 something he has done
with McCain=92s 100 years in Iraq comment. On top of that he =93made a
pair of grand and cynical promises=94 about taxes in Iraq, which he may
very well have to renege on if he=92s president. =93It was inevitable that
the period of =91Yes We Can!=92 deification would come to an end,=94
Brooks
says. =93It was not inevitable that Obama would now look so vulnerable.
There were plenty of complaints about the framing of Wednesday=92s
debate with all of its gotcha questions and strikingly little policy
talk. Well that=92s only because we=92re asking for it, Julian E. Zelizer
writes on The Huffington Post. =93The problem is not just the media or
the political process. Public interest in politics has steadily
declined since the nineteenth century=85Americans are more interested in
American Idol than American presidents. They=92re not asking for much
substance.=94
Add in the rise of television and the im****tance of print media and
candidates learned to run campaigns on soundbites and around the
media=92s influence. Like it or not, it=92s the =93age of Swift Boat
attacks=94 and even if Democrats didn=92t face these issues in the
primaries, they=92d see them in the general election. =93Until we have a
better political system and a more attentive electorate, we are not in
a position to dismiss the type of debate that we had last night. We
got the debate we deserve,=94 Zelizer writes.
For those seeking a bit more substance in their political diet, the
Council on Foreign Relations Web site offers an updated look at the
positions on the Arab-Israeli conflict that were taken by all the
candidates who have run this year: =93With some notable exceptions,
candidates of both major U.S. parties put forth similar views on the
conflict, stressing their commitment to defending Israel=92s right to
exist and calling on the Palestinian leader****p and extragovernmental
factions to renounce terrorism.
Copyright =A9 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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