He is really taking advantage of the Obama/Hillary unnecessary "campaign."
McCain Projects Image of Patriot on Road to General Electionby FOXNews.com
Saturday, March 29, 2008
As one half of the general election campaign moves into full swing, John McCain is launching his most focused effort yet to define his persona for voters, projecting the steadfast image of a patriot and selfless commander in trying times.
McCain launched his first general election ad Friday, in which a baritone narrator describes the Arizona senator as “the American president Americans have been waiting for.” The ad shows images of McCain when he was a POW imprisoned in Vietnam, and it begins with campaign clips of McCain telling voters “stay strong” and “do not yield.”
Next week McCain kicks off his “Service to America Tour,” a week-long biographical swing through Mississippi, Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Arizona, highlighting locales that have played defining moments in his life and that showcase his service to his country.
He’ll stop in Meridian, Miss., where he served as a flight instructor at a naval air station; in Annapolis, Md., where he attended the Naval Academy; in Jacksonville, Fla., where he returned after his release from Vietnam, and in Prescott, Ariz., where his Senate predecessor Barry Goldwater launched his 1964 general election campaign.
“Were going to the places where I had the opportunity to serve the country,” McCain told reporters Friday in Las Vegas. “The motivation for other Americans to serve a cause greater than their self interest. And each one of the places we’re going to was part of the formative experiences that shaped my views, my thinking and sum up where I was proud to serve the country.”
The Democratic Party — still lacking a nominee — and its supporters offer a starkly different portrait. In their view, McCain is a Washington insider, backer of an unpopular war in Iraq and indifferent to the economic woes of average Americans. They cast McCain as four more years of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Already his service tour has provided fodder for Democrats, though the Republican National Committee swiftly came to his side.
Responding to news of McCain’s scheduled biography tour, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said in a statement: “John McCain can try to reintroduce himself to the country, but he can’t change the fact that he cast aside his principles to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Bush for the last seven years. While we honor McCain’s military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn’t understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.”
It’s the “blatant opportunist” part that has Republicans fuming.
“I think it’s an assault on Senator McCain’s character,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant. “It certainly goes beyond the pale of what we expect — even from Chairman Dean.”
“Howard Dean owes John McCain an immediate apology and both Senators Clinton and Obama should unequivocally denounce this disgraceful attack,” RNC Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli said.
Conant said the RNC intends to keep the dialogue “respectful,” referring to a memo put out by McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis earlier this month calling on Republicans to keep the campaign “focused on the issues.”
While McCain seeks to crystallize his image with voters, the GOP nominee-in-waiting has the luxury to keep things civil. Most his work is already being taken care of for him, as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain locked in a bitter battle. Clinton, who is trailing Obama in pledged delegates, on Friday resisted pressure to end her bid, even as Dean called on superdelegates to make their decisions and resolve the race by July 1.
The Democratic candidates’ supporters have been trading fire over the past few weeks, and Clinton for the first time Tuesday weighed in on the controversy over Obama’s former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., saying Wright would not have been her pastor.
Asked Thursday in Denver whether a candidate should be held accountable for the views of his pastor, McCain took a softer tone: “I am sure, knowing Sen. Obama, that he does not share the extreme views … that I saw on television.”
McCain and the Democratic candidates continue to ridicule each other over policy patters. Both Obama and Clinton accuse McCain of wanting to continue what they call the failed policies of the Bush administration. McCain calls their plans for troop withdrawal from Iraq reckless and premature.
Aside from what the Democratic Party does to challenge McCain, a loose coalition of liberal and labor organizations expects to spend about $150 million this fall to push its causes and help Democrats win the White House and strengthen their grip on Congress.
Recent polls indicate that while McCain would run a competitive race against either Obama or Clinton, the Republican has work to do to boost voters’ positive impressions of him. Some surveys also indicate that his identity isn’t universally tied to Bush among pivotal independents.
A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found that 45 percent of people viewed McCain favorably, a smaller slice than Obama and Clinton. Still, just over half of independents says McCain would take the country in a different direction than Bush — important given that two-thirds of independents disapprove of the president’s job performance.
While McCain is familiar to GOP faithful, a recent AP-Yahoo News poll found that he was less known than Obama and Clinton among voters at large. When asked to describe McCain, most mentioned his senior citizen status and his military service. He also was widely seen as experienced, strong, honest and decisive.
Broadly, McCain argues he’s someone who will keep the country safe and prosperous by using his knowledge and judgment — culled from his lifetime of service in the Navy and the Senate. The four-term senator argues that he will challenge the Washington status quo, deal with climate change and tell it straight.
Earlier this week, McCain embraced a more collaborative foreign policy approach with democratic allies, drawing a contrast with Bush’s go-it-alone style of the last eight years. Upcoming is a speech on combating climate change; McCain breaks from Bush on the issue that attracts voters from across the political spectrum.
“John McCain has an image of being anti-Bush from the 2000 election. He’s not George Bush,” Greg Strimple, a Republican strategist in New York, said, and Democrats won’t succeed in painting him as a clone.
Democrats acknowledge that McCain, who is struggling to raise money, has a significant opportunity to craft his own image while better-funded Democrats are preoccupied with the protracted Obama-Clinton fight.
“Democrats have to basically say the John McCain you thought you knew isn’t the John McCain that’s running for president this year,” Steve McMahon, a Democratic strategist, said.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/29/mccain-projects-image-of-patriot-on-road-to-general-election/
