Mac Is Back
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in 2008 | John McCain — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Yes, the polls will shift when there is a Democratic nominee, but it would appear that John McCain has done a good job in consolidating his position and preparing for the general election:
Sen. John McCain, who embittered conservatives when he won the Republican presidential nomination race, is drawing unhappy Republicans back into the fold -- not to mention swing-voting independents and even some moderate Democrats.
A new survey shows that the same voters, who five months ago, preferred sending an unnamed Democrat to the White House over an unnamed Republican by 13 percentage points, are now evenly split, due partly to Mr. McCain's likability and the brawling by the two Democratic candidates.
The Associated Press-Yahoo poll shows Mr. McCain gets about 10 percentage points more now than a generic Republican candidate got last fall; Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton get about five points less than a nameless Democrat got then.
[. . .]
"McCain has accomplished what so many of the self-appointed experts said couldn't be done — he has united the GOP and made great progress with independents and Democrats," said Republican strategist Scott Reed. "Just look at the large percentage of Obama and Clinton supporters who will never support the other and volunteer that they will support McCain if their candidate loses. That number is growing every week."
These numbers are nothing to sneeze at. And just imagine if the Democratic nomination fight stretches out to June, July or even August.
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This Wash Times article is just a rehash of information from other wire services and pollsters, which was already posted here and discussed here yesterday.
Let's not go all Obama elitist on everyone else. That's for Kosters.
Certainly McCain has made inroads into the ranks of those who would rather change parties than vote for either Obama or Clinton, but I really see little change in the position of those who were against McCain's coronation as representing the Republican conservative portion of the voting masses. If he does win the presidency, one can only expect that he will tack even further left than before and leave those "in your face" party opposition minions to accept the absolute genuineness of their views about this guy. Paybacks are not going to be fun!
to those "friends" my friend who are going to turn on him in the general and those would be Democrats...I consider myself to be quite conservative and I think he is going to be a fine President and let it be said that is a far cry from the position I took for the last year....I think the religious right might sit it out and well that is their call...but for me it's not problem when I see the choices on the flip side.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
Image is key to any campaign.
The problem McCain has, and what the GOP needs; are two different things.
The GOP's image is pretty much in 'junk bond' land, and McCain's self-portrayal as a maverick don't mesh.
The GOP is all things Bush, to most voters, and those who supported him are not seen as a 'good product'. Nearly 65% of those 'consumers' will not buy the product.
Not a good place to be, when trying to market a candidate.
A political party cannot simply say it has a new image. It has a platform of policies, that it has to adhere to; from candidate to candidate, and race to race.
The GOP is stuck with a bad product image.
They are unlikely to be able to redefine themselves, repackage the platform, and offer change.
Change is what the voters want. When 80% of the voters say 'wrong track'...that means the GOP missed the mark, did not see it coming, and did little to nothing to avoid the mess they created.
The Dems did the same thing in 1968. They missed the mark with voters.
McCain's voting record, over 20 years will get more focus, byt the media...and the maverick image, is out the window. McCain voted along party lines, more than many other Republicans. That hurts the marketing of an image.
McCain's military knowledge will get knocked, as he was not a decision maker. He was out of the loop, as a prisoner. He was not the achiever his father and grandfather were. The Dems have the military support; from Generals right down to the troops, on their fourth tours.
McCain's stuck with the bad image of Iraq. It's his albatross.
What was McCain's biggest accomplishment? The McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform.
After it was gutted by the GOP, which allowed 527's to startup; creating the MoveOn's, Swift Boats and the rest of the nonsense groups.
McCain did not fight to change that law's loopholes, and restrict those groups.
In fact, he started one, to have a dual funding with the RNC to avoid the donation limits.
That gives Feingold, and the Dems a real dagger.
McCain is abusing the very law that bears his name.
epublicans. They will.
And the media will pick up on that....
First he supported it, and then he was against it? Sound familiar?
The GOP's other big problem is the loss of voters, from the party.
There is an assumption that voters are loyal. They are not. There is an assumption that the millions of new registrations will simply not vote in November. They will.
"...These numbers are nothing to sneeze at. And just imagine if the Democratic nomination fight stretches out to June, July or even August." One poll is not a definative, just another of those assumptions. Hoping that the Dem race goes on and on, is just a diversion from addressing the issue of a bad GOP image. Media is covering the Dems, not McCain, as a result of the race. Out of sight is out of mind; and this lets Bush have more media that McCain.
Unpopular lame ducks don't attract votes, or voters.
Neither does lapel pins and third person innuendo.
The GOP often fails, by assuming too much and going off topic.
In 1946, the GOP took both houses of Congress...and in two short years, they managed to create such a mess, that, in 1948 they wound up with 18 Senators and 88 Congressmen.
It may be headed for a repeat of 1948.
"John McCain has done a good job in consolidating his position and preparing for the general election:"
Not exactly. The Dems are killing their own chances and McCain is the beneficiary of that.