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Is the McCain Brand Damaged?
June 20, 2008 9:36 AM
Recent polls show Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Illinois, tied among independent voters. But McCain needs to win independents to win the presidency, and there are indications that the McCain "brand" -- his image as an independent maverick -- has been damaged in the past few years.
Paul West, Washington bureau chief of the Baltimore Sun, recently wrote that McCain "was often called the country's most popular politician and widely admired for his independent streak. It wasn't too many years ago that 'maverick' was the cliché of choice in describing him. But that term didn't even make the list this year when voters were asked by the Pew Research Center to sum up McCain in a single word. 'Old' got the most mentions, followed by 'honest,' 'experienced,' 'patriot,' 'conservative' and a dozen more. The words 'independent,' 'change' or 'reformer' weren't among them. Voters have notoriously short memories, but it could be argued that McCain cheapened his own brand."
Part of McCain's problem is the dark cloud that is President Bush's presidency, and the impact Bush's unpopularity is having on fellow Republicans. Indeed, McCain's supporters argue that McCain's independence is the only reason that the presidential is at all close, given the blatant doom and gloom Republican members of Congress project when discussing how their party is certain to lose seats in the House and Senate this November.
Part of what hurts McCain is the very unpopularity of the war in Iraq, a war he has ardently supported.
But there's another factor as well.
Yesterday, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., insinuated that McCain is a flip-flopper it gave Camp McCain the opportunity to poke fun at Kerry -- "He was for John McCain before he was against him," one senior aide quipped, referencing not only Kerry's bungled 2004 line about the $87 billion in Iraq war funding but reports that Kerry implored McCain to be his running mate.
But Kerry was not wrong in his assertion McCain has changed his position on a number of issues.
"He has changed on taxes which he once called dangerous, and now he is in favor of the permanent Bush tax cut which he once voted against," Kerry said. "He's changed on oil drilling. He's changed now, or he's indicated a willingness to change, on the Arctic Wildlife Refuge."
This week, McCain did in fact change his position on drilling off shore. And though he told Sean Hannity in March that "ANWR is a pristine place. I don't support drilling there. I just feel that it's an area that, one, it would take years, I think, before you could actually exploit it" this week of drilling for oil in ANWR, McCain told voters in Missouri, "I would be more than happy to examine it again." The McCain campaign says the energy crisis necessitates opening the US to drilling.
(Perhaps not surprisingly, Jeb Bush, who opposed off-shore drilling as governor of Florida, defended McCain saying, “You can protect the natural resources and the coastline of the state and also be part of national effort to deal with a national security crisis that our country faces right now,” he said. “It’s a huge economic problem for a lot of Americans, which is four-plus dollars a gallon gasoline. It’s a burden that was never anticipated when we were discussing drilling policy 20 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, two years ago. So I think you’ve got to give people in public life a little bit of room when the context changes for them to also adjust their views.”)
But off-shore drilling is just the latest apparent shift in views. Perhaps most glaringly, in May 2001, McCain said of the Bush tax cuts, “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief." In October 2007, McCain promised, “I will not let the Democrats roll back the Bush tax cuts," and he's making an issue out of Sen. Barack Obama's desire to repeal the same tax cuts McCain opposed.
He showed political courage last year by trying to pass an immigration reform bill unpopular with the Republican base, but then, chastened, in January during a Republican debate said he wouldn't vote for that very legislation he wrote.
What's the impact of all this? He is seen as less independent -- and as less centrist.
An ABC News/Washington poll from this month indicated that 57% of Americans think McCain would take the country the same direction as George W. Bush, with 38% saying he would take the nation in a new direction.
There's also the Goldilocks question -- whether voter think a candidate's views on issues are too liberal, too conservative, or just about right.
52% of voters in our latest poll think Obama's views are "just about right" ideologically. Eight years ago, in February 2000, 55% of those polled said the same about McCain.
But today, only 40 percent call McCain "just about right" ideologically.
That's a problem for Mr. McCain.
- jpt
June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (127)
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I can't Wait for November when I can vote for John McCain.
I can't wait for November when I will NOT vote for John Kerry.
A woman can have to many Johns!
Posted by: HP Boston | Jun 20, 2008 1:51:04 PM
Honay
I agree. Nothing against McCain. It's just a fact of life. Now is the time for him to get that nice cushy job as a walmart greeter. You know something less stressful and doesn't require much decision making.
You have given us over 50 years of service Mr. McCain. Enjoy you life with the wife. You are filthy rich anyways. go see the world on your dime
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 20, 2008 1:47:03 PM
I tell you which vp choice is going to do the most damage to the Mccain brand...
Pawlenty (the guy he's focusing on)
this guy is going to reinforce Mccain's great and noble gas tax holiday fiasco...
If you didn't know Pawlenty reduced the states deficit and taxes...by what? drum roll...by cutting back on infrastructure in the state.
Yeah...the same infrastructure that Mccain's gas tax holiday wil damage.
the same infrastructure that pays for levees ...
the same infrastructure that has not been updated correctly in 40 years.
the same infrastructure that includes bridges...
Now what do we know about minnesota's infrastructure...hmmm...that the bridges aren't doing so well...
and why do we know that because one biga** bridge finally collapsed because it was ignored...
thannk you governor Pawlenty... what will you do for America?
oy...now that will damage the McCain brand... good judgement picking the guy ignoring infrastructure when it is one of the biggest issues we face as a country now.
Posted by: dl | Jun 20, 2008 1:44:10 PM
People wake up. McCain is just too old. He can't remember what he said yesterday. I'm old and energetic but I forget things and so does he. He is very thin skin and a danger to our country, Send him back to the Senate where his friends can protect him from the public. Let everyone remember the hero and POW. If he's elected, the memories will be dark. Vote Obama.
Posted by: Honay Rogers | Jun 20, 2008 1:44:04 PM
McCain has lost his bearings..... confused even.
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 20, 2008 1:41:43 PM
Well my post was made about comments from someone in 2005.
Posted by: BigDeal? | Jun 20, 2008 1:41:41 PM
eyes open
I have met all three of those candidates to which you refer...
I went and heard them speak in small venues...where we got to ask them questions...
Obama does not lie and deceit as yuo like to spin it.
He mis-states on a rare occasion as they all do...he changes his mind on different issues but 99.999 % of the time it has to do with his vision... Mccain has done a 180 on half of the big issues facing us...in less that 2 years...or since he started needing the right wing.
and until you go see them all and listen to all their policies and meet them and here their promises and hear them stumble on answers (as Mccain does when pressed in small groups or makes a joke to take the sting out of his turnabouts)
you really don't kknow what you are talking about.
Posted by: dl | Jun 20, 2008 1:34:21 PM
I forgot to add that Obama isnt the same Obama he was in Feb 2008 . Let alone Jan 2008 , Dec 2007, Nov 2007....you get the point.
Posted by: Vanessa | Jun 20, 2008 1:34:16 PM
could someone explain why the GOP throws Michelle down the stairs when the make the "proud of my country" remark and they give McCain a free pass when he said he didnt love his country.
dont answer
rhetorical question.
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 20, 2008 1:33:39 PM
GETALIFE:
..."to explain her 10,000 percent profit in 1979 commodity trading? We now know that was a lie told to turn aside accusations that as the Governor's wife she profited .."
THAT'S T E N YEARS?????
NO WONDER YOU'RE NOT VOTING FOR MCCAIN!
Posted by: eyes open | Jun 20, 2008 1:30:40 PM
juju
"low information voters" seem to be making a choice on policy...
you seem to be making a choice on something else.
John McCain is on the wrong side of almost every issue...
he is on the other side from most economists, most foreign policy advisors...and most of all voters.
so get a clue... read about the promises they are both making and do the math with each you will see on almost every issue Obama is the better choice.
and then you yourself may get away from being a "low information voter"
Posted by: dl | Jun 20, 2008 1:29:33 PM
Sorry I was bringing up stuff that happened within the last 10 years.
Posted by: GetaLife | Jun 20, 2008 1:27:27 PM
>>>BigDeal? | Jun 20, 2008 1:12:46 PM
Why are you barfing up stuff about Hillary from thirty years ago which has since been adjudicated and laid to rest many many many times?
Hillary, if you haven't noticed.... is no longer running... so turn your direction finder towards somebody else's life....... like, how about
B O's?
His lies and deceits are much more current than hers... in fact, they're ongoing!
COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY!!!
Posted by: eyes open | Jun 20, 2008 1:25:46 PM
To Debra: Thanks! I'm a "she."
To me, it's so clear that anyone (Democrat or Republican) who pays attention to politics should choose McCain. He doesn't have character issues and baggage like the junior senator from Illinois. Unfortunately, the "low information" voters will be bamboozled by Obama's false message of "change" and "hope."
Posted by: Juju | Jun 20, 2008 1:23:48 PM
I beleive the Hillary supporters who switches had their eyes opened to what she was really about.
Posted by: GetaLife | Jun 20, 2008 1:22:02 PM
Why do anti-Obama people continue to point out his lies, (which every politician does), and refuse to acknowledge Hillary's AND McCain's lies ?
Posted by: GetaLife | Jun 20, 2008 1:17:56 PM
There you go again, Joe. (gotta love that line). They aren't unstable and/or paranoid. They are every bit as concerned and informed as you are.
This is the point: no one on this list is changing the mind of anyone else on this list. We are all advocates. Some are pros. Some are not. Some are in disguise some are not.
Think of the list like those think tank sessions that PBS used to run with Fred. Jake tosses out the latest 'item' and we chew it up like cows chew grass. Interested parties watch these lists to see if an issue is getting legs and how they will use the various responses for spin in some vector.
It's easy to see this in action in the late night talking head fests where points are recycled as original contributions. These lists are the second and third stomach in the cow. By the time it gets to the CNN, MSNBC or Fox fests, it may be udderly ridiculous but there it is.
And it really does affect the election by indirection. Think karma. It isn't justice. It is causal. It isn't mindless by nature, but it can be by lack of discipline.
So the more anger and divisiveness we excrete, the more of that we'll see on TV. IOW, what you're eating from your plate is what the barnyard allows.
Posted by: len | Jun 20, 2008 1:15:06 PM
JuJu is smart....I second everything he/she says.
Posted by: Debra | Jun 20, 2008 1:13:30 PM
More lies
1. Remember the story she told about studying The Wall Street Journal to explain her 10,000 percent profit in 1979 commodity trading? We now know that was a lie told to turn aside accusations that as the Governor's wife she profited corruptly, her account being run by a lawyer for state poultry interests through a disreputable broker.
She lied for good reason: To admit otherwise would be to confess taking, and paying taxes on, what some think amounted to a $100,000 bribe.
2. The abuse of Presidential power known as Travelgate elicited another series of lies....
3. In the aftermath of the apparent suicide of her former partner and closest confidant, White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster... [h]er closest friends and aides, under oath, have been blatantly disremembering this likely obstruction of justice, and may have to pay for supporting Hillary's lie with jail terms.
Posted by: BigDeal? | Jun 20, 2008 1:12:46 PM
People wonder, "How can Hillary supporters vote for McCain?" The answer is simple: Character trumps issues.
The POTUS embodies the greatness of our country. McCain is honorable. No one accuses him of being anti-American and influenced by foreign interests.
In contrast, Obama is the product of a corrupt political machine, associates with anti-Americans (Ayers), and funded by shady foreigners (Khalidi, Rezko).
Given a choice between these two characters, I choose McCain.
Posted by: Juju | Jun 20, 2008 1:10:50 PM
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