Former Bushie Barlett Sees McCain's Momentum

If Bush’s brain were divided into lobes, Karl Rove was the left side, and Dan Bartlett the right. The way right side. Recently, he offered the assessment that many have been drooling for, that is the Neocon/White House assessment of the field. No one is seeking the endorsement of this administration, and Bush might be the least busy campaigning lame duck since Rutherford Hayes. His candid assessment? From a recent Washington Post column:

“John McCain: could pull a repeat of his 2000 performance by winning New Hampshire yet losing the battle. Bartlett was more sympathetic to McCain, calling the senator from Arizona the ‘biggest wild card’ at this point. ‘He is now where he does his best,’ Bartlett said. ‘He's lean, he's mean, he's out there, he's fighting in New Hampshire. The problem's going to be it always comes down to money, money, money. He doesn't have it. The irony could be he could see this thing play out the exact same way it did in 2000. He could win in New Hampshire and not have any infrastructure or funding to maximize it in a national campaign.’”

“Bartlett declined to predict the nominee. "Republicans, I believe, are terrified about losing the presidency after losing Congress," he said. "I think this is going to be the season of the pragmatic Republican voter. That bodes well for Rudy and it gives McCain a shot, because I think people feel McCain can go toe-to-toe with Hillary in the general election.’”

“’Bartlett gave his appraisal during a Sept. 13 joint appearance with Terence R. McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Video excerpts were posted on the Web site of Leading Authorities, a speakers bureau. Bartlett said he was not conveying Bush's opinions. "They were my views only," he said. White House press secretary Dana Perino echoed that: "He is a private citizen now, expressing his private views. He is not speaking for the president.’”

I for one, think that Bartlett’s assessment is pretty candid. While he does berate the rest of the field, I left that out to focus on the McCain analysis. Bartlett is right, the pragmatic Republican voter, the one who says that having a leader ala Giuliani/McCain in the White House, who can stop Hillary Rodham Clinton from becoming president, is where the votes will fall. Many well-heeled contenders have fallen to the ash heap because their message was not clear (Forbes, Kerry, Perot, Dean, and so on). The boring, slack jawed start to Thompson’s campaign, Flip Romney, and the like will not keep Hillary out. McCain’s leadership and pragmatism can.

While Some Reach for Gravitas, McCain Defines It.

It is one thing to claim mantles that do not belong to you, such as Gov. Romney’s recent claim of being the “Republican Wing of the Republican Party”. Insert “Democratic Wing” and rewind to early 2004 and you have another nutty New Englander, Howard Dean. Sure, you can claim gravitas, but as the old Chinese saying goes, “the more you brag, the more you diminish your accomplishments.”

It is another to be presidential. McCain is not wasting time telling people who and what he is. He is doing what a president does, that is, by “doing”. Another cliché for you, “actions speak louder than words”. And for McCain, by introducing his plans for healthcare and the war, and immigration, he has been presidential. He doesn’t need to tell you who he is; you can figure that out by what he stands for. Sometimes that might not be the answer you want to hear, as a Granite Stater found out a few days ago.

"US Senator John McCain (R), campaigning this week in New Hampshire, fended off hostile questions from a town hall audience member upset with McCain's immigration stance. "Do the people in Washington — the politicians and the lobbyists and the rich people writing the checks — do they understand the amount of anger the average European Christian, native-born American feels when they see their country turning into a multicultural chaos Tower of Babel," asked an angry man, according to CNN. When McCain tried to answer, the man interrupted McCain. Finally -- after expressing support for "first securing our borders" -- McCain fired back: "I believe the greatest strength of America is the lady who holds her lamp behind the golden door that says send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. And I am grateful to live in a nation that has been enriched by people coming to our nation from around the world. I will do everything in my power to secure the borders, but I love this nation and I love the people who have come from around the world." The NH audience gave McCain a loud round of applause for his answer."--Politics1.com

McCain is back to being McCain. He is not a front runner, he is a maverick, an independent thinker, and despite his near half century of public service, an outsider. He runs best from behind, and New Hampshire has always appreciated that, as will a nation ready for leadership that is both innovative, experienced and proven by time. That candidate is John McCain.

McCain Momentum II: The Debates

Here’s what they are saying about John McCain. The big story here, I really think, is John McCain. He's the comeback kid. I think he's back in this race. We all wrote him off six weeks ago, we all thought he had suffered the knockout punch. I think he actually did look presidential." Says Steve Moore of WSJ (CNBC's "Kudlow & Company," 10/9/07).

"Mr. McCain had a pretty good evening, did he not? ... And he's kind of on the upslope now. It's an interesting story, from down in the depths, Death Valley days, a couple of months ago - he seems to be on the rise." Larry Kudlow (CNBC's "Kudlow & Company," 10/9/07)
Despite some agencies making the race a three way between fourth polling place Freddie Dalton Thompson, Giuliani and Romney, McCain still polls close, real close in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Romney appears to have a lead in New Hampshire, but Romney keeps putting his flip-flops in his mouth. Earlier this week, Romney claimed to represent the “Republican Wing of the Republican Party”, a charge that McCain took head on:

“When Gov. Romney donated money to a Democratic candidate in New Hampshire, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans. When he voted for a Democratic candidate for President, Paul Tsongas, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans. When he refused to endorse Contract with America, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans”—John McCain, 10/9/2007

You will probably not hear Romney use that sound bite in a debate again. But you better believe McCain will bring out this line again. That is because, we do not need a pretender as president; we need a real leader.

While Romney has a considerable war chest to manufacture his RINO propaganda, it is only a matter of time before voters in the key early primary states will see through the soothing Hansel and Gretel act of Romney’s campaign and realize that the man campaigning in the Green Mountains is no Republican. They will look to leadership and proven skills, in someone who is talking straight. That is John McCain.

McCain to Pandering Paul: "You're not voting for me, Pal!"

McCain dropped his “gravitas” on Ron Paul in the recent debates in Michigan. When asked if he could support the GOP nominee if they supported the war, Paul gave his usual emphatic “No”. Of which, McCain dissected the libertarian’s utopian foreign policy and dropped the bomb, “You’re not voting for me, Pal!”

Paul’s dalliance with the internet crowd, who debate spending their money on either iTunes or on his candidacy for President, is less of a nuisance and more of a worry than you might imagine. Paul sits in the seat that has been warmed in previous president runs by John Anderson, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, and even Eugene Debs. He is an anomaly, certainly not a president, but enough of a player to draw votes in the primary, and even the national race. Paul has been a libertarian candidate for president before, in 1988. He has more money than anyone thought he could muster, and will be a farce, err, force in this cycle. However, in this latest round, it was McCain and not Giuliani who scored points off the blathering (yet misplaced, thoughtful, and anachronistic) sayings of Paul.

McCain Momentum

We can call it that now, for in a recent CNN poll, McCain has bounced up five points in NH, with Romney taking a 7 point dive. What can explain this?

Well, for one thing, McCain paused his campaign to focus on his "No Surrender" tour, which was about the war, the valor of our soldiers, and the importance of keeping the terror war from our shores. McCain did what even Bush couldn't, and that is, explain the seriousness of the war to the heartland. In sum, while Rudy takes phone calls from his wife at speeches, Fred is lazy as the day is long, and Romney is all things to all people, McCain is presidential. Let me repeat. McCain is Presidential.

This bounce should come as no surprise to pollsters as well, for at the end of the day, social conservatives will not back pretenders, flipfloppers or panderers. Liberal R's will vote for Rudy, Social cons will meander between Huckabee and Brownback, Romney will become irrelevant as Rudy and McCain begin their ad sweeps. In fact, I would bet the reason why Romney has enjoyed some success at second place is simply because he is putting all his money into early ad blitzes. But once all the campaigns start the ad war, Romney will have to atone for his convenient floppings from his early senate races, to the governorship of taxachussettes, and now the Presidency.

All the while, McCain has been right on the war for years now, and he had a better time explaining that cause to America. McCain's momentum shows he is the only candidate with the gravitas to win, and more important, to lead.

McCain in Indianapolis

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No Surrender

McCain's shining moment in last week's debate came by way of Slick Romney's faux paux. Romney indicated that the surge in Iraq was "appearantly working". McCain corrected him, to say the strategy IS WORKING.

McCain has been right all along on Iraq. For four years, McCain has said the war was mismanaged. For four years, he has advocated soldiers on the ground managing the war, instead of polls and armchair generals in the Senate. McCain tied himself to General Petreaus and his assessment, and asked the nation to wait for the surge to work while McCain lost his standing in the presidential race. And now we have a report, recommendations, and a exit strategy with honor. McCain was right all along.

And while other pols have tried to avoid taking a stand on Iraq, McCain stuck to his guns, and defined courage. In fact, his opponents, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee have said that if they were not running for President, they would vote for McCain. That is a hefty compliment.

John McCain is governing while he is running for president. He takes policy positions and still tries to do his job as a senior senator. He makes tough calls, unpopular calls and sees them through. And in this latest debate over Iraq, he was right all along.