Worries in GOP of disarray in McCain camp

[brooklynite]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON - Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign is in a troubled stretch, hindered by resignations of staff members, a lagging effort to build a national campaign organization and questions over whether he has taken full advantage of Democratic turmoil to present a case for his candidacy, Republicans say.

In interviews, some party leaders said they were worried about signs of disorder in his campaign, and if the focus in the last several weeks on the prominent role of lobbyists in Mr. McCain’s inner circle might undercut the heart of his general election message: that he is a reformer taking on special interests in Washington.

"The core image of John McCain is as a reformer in Washington — and the more dominant the story is about the lobbying teams around him, the more you put that into question," said Terry Nelson, who was Mr. McCain’s campaign manager until he was forced out last year. "If the Obama campaign can truly change him from being seen as a reformer to just being another Washington politician, it could be very damaging over the course of the campaign."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24808130

[FogerRox]

1. McCain will do well to lose like Dukakis, it may be he loses like Goldwater

[underpants]

3. Probably not that bad we haven't seen his campaign yet and all the "talent" is leaving

maybe not all that talented but the structure has been purged


Plus in the perception war that they have cultivated and the groupthink short attention span media fed world we live in it is going to be hard to distance him from

Hagee-Hitler-Bible
and the lobbyist for Myanmar appointed BY HIM to run the convention

We haven't seen his campaign yet (he did not seize upon the opportunity of the Dems fighting it out) but what we have seen has been really bad.

[merwin]

6. That map is backwards.

The Democrat is Red?

[Ian David]

9. Back then, red was for the incumbent. n/t

[sofa king]

16. And if you ask me, it still should be.

The current use of the term cropped up after the election theft of 2000, probably because the two campaigns chose blue (Gore) and red (Asshole) as their respective campaign colors. On political maps, Gore's campaign should have been in red because his party was the incumbent party.

In a way, the Democratic Party was probably glad to be rid of the "red" distinction, as it was conflated with communism. But by fixing the colors it removes an entire dimension from political maps. One now has to look elsewhere to figure out who the incumbent party is.

It does, however, add a new dimension of its own. With red being the color associated with war, death, blood, and treason, it fits the Republicans quite well.

[FogerRox]

12. right. the DEm/Blue thing was started by CNN, IIRC

[samsingh]

11. a destroyed gop would be good for America

[calimary]

2. Wow. Look at the photo that goes with that picture.

There he is, big as life - joe fucking quisling traitor lieberman. Knee-deep in republi-CONS.

Just STAY there, you turncoat asshole! I hope we win so many new Senate seats that you won't make a damn bit of difference to ANYONE. And I hope they take your committee chairmanship away, too! And don't let the door hitcha where the Good Lord splitcha.

[underpants]

4. These guys don't look like they are in a campaign

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is surrounded by staff and supporters on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, at his Phoenix, Ariz., home. From left are: adviser Mark McKinnon, campaign CEO Rick Davis, sitting, McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-CT., and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Other than McKinnon they all look fresh as a daisy newly boiled shirt ready. Maybe it was taken early in the morning but this doesn't look like almost any campaign that I have seen either in person or in photos.


Why is there a "CEO" of the campaign?

[oldtime dfl_er]

5. My theory is that McCain won't be the candidate

He's a straw dog until the Repukes can come up with something else.

[DUlover2909]

7. I disagree. They know they will lose no matter what.

They are letting McCain be their fall guy in 2008.

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. This is his Consolation Prize for letting Chucklenuts and the NeoCons run all over him in 2000.

Let the old guy have his grab at the brass ring -- which he'll lose -- then they'll be rid of him as any kind of national force. That's how I see it, anyway.

[MaineDem]

15. This has been my thought since 2000

Jeb would stay out of it and McCain would get the party backing. Something has to explain how easily McCain became the Bush ass-kisser.

[frog92969]

8. That's been my suspicion for a while now.

[Ian David]

10. Cheney / Lieberman 08? n/t

[Johnyawl]

13. Nice theory, but who the hell would they come up with?

Romney? Absolutely NO traction during the primaries, the corporate repugs like him, but the rank and file party activists completely rejected him. The evangelicals are as likely to vote for a mormon, as the KKK are to vote for a black man.

Huckabee? The rank and file like him, but the corporatists will close off the purse strings and let him wither and die. For the corporatists and globalists, Obama would be more to their liking. Plus Huckabee, while likable, is a fundy whose views are way outside the mainstream, and he holds some batshit crazy ideas. He'd be an easier target for the Dems than McCain.

...and none of the other candidates made so much as a dent in the proceedings. As far as other republicans with a national folowing...well, they got none. At least none that are electable in todays political enviroment. No, the republicans have no one, especially with Bush's approval ratings having sunk lower than whaleshit. McCain, a repug with a national reputation for being an "independent" and a "maverick" was their best hope, and the wheels are coming off that cart. At this point all they can do is run with what they got, try to minimize the damage, and limit the blue wave, and then hope the Dems self destruct, if not before November, then during the next four years.