Tuesday, July 10, 2007

McCain campaign deathwatch

How many more setbacks can John McCain's struggling campaign take?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican John McCain's top two aides quit his struggling presidential campaign on Tuesday, dealing a sharp blow to the Arizona senator and casting doubt on the future of his 2008 bid.

McCain said he would push ahead with his White House run despite the departures of manager Terry Nelson and longtime chief strategist John Weaver, which was announced as he took the Senate floor to defend President George W. Bush's strategy in Iraq.

Sorry, Senator, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. You are too pro-war and (deadly in the Republican primary) too pro-immigration to win. Now, turnarounds have happened before-- as you have pointed out, Kerry's campaign was considered doomed before he turned things around in the primaries. But it will take a real miracle to change the momentum in your campaign. Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog points out the sad irony here:
In 2000, the Bush team destroyed McCain's presidential aspirations by running a fiercely negative campaign against him. In 2008, the Bush team destroyed McCain's presidential aspirations because the Senator remained fiercely loyal to the failed policies of the failed presidency of George Bush. George Bush is primary reason John McCain will never be President. Although, John McCain himself deserves a lot of credit, too.
I can't deny, Senator, that you're a man of principles. Unfortunately, they're the wrong ones.

1 comment:

arthur said...

Nicely put, it seems like Senator Mccain's campaign is definetely going south. That is a big blow not only for the contender but the whole Republican party. That must be a big surprise for the democrats also.

It may be hard to believe or logically hard to accept, but I think he still has a lot of time to turn things around. He knows the field, he masters the game, he is a conqueror. He can bounce back, definetely get more involved in his campaign, and take the lead. After all, it is the nature of the game. And he is well aware of that.

He strongly accepted some of his key members' resignation. He laid off many others. That is not a bad thing at all. After all, it is his campaign. Mccain has been running his campaign from a distance. His strong and undivided involvement in the immigration reform bill and the war in Iraq kept him away from his campaign. Not too long ago, in Meet the Press, he declared that he would be willing to lose an election but not the war. With that on mind, it would be hard for his campaign not to suffer. That man is a soldier.

The failing of the immigration reform bill was a big blow for Mccain the senator but will help his campaign. He would not be able to run all those wars at once. Experience, maturity, energy, popularity, leadership and money are key ingredients to win the election. But without TIME you have nothing. Mccain has it all but not enough time to campaign.