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McCain needs to regain fighting spirit
Editor's Notes
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Published: October 5, 2008
Sen. John McCain is thinking about attending the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. I hope I run into the Republican presidential candidate at the track, if he decides to come.
I enjoy exchanging small talk with McCain, who shares a passion for sports and politics, and I might have a chance for a short conversation if he makes his way into the press section to shake hands.
I suspect McCain needs a slight diversion from the campaign trail after his worst two-week stretch since clinching the nomination.
I can make such a sweeping statement about McCain, I think, because I know him almost as well as my next-door neighbor. He believes in straight talk. So do I when it comes to politics.
The Republican presidential candidate has been a senator from Arizona since 1986. I lived in Arizona 15 of the last 20 years and was exposed to regular doses of McCain, some personal and some professional.
I used to see McCain frequently. He came into newspaper offices where I worked. I saw him at sporting events. He attended as a fan and as a reformer.
Based on what he saw and heard, the former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee single-handedly initiated reforms in boxing to protect fighters from devious promoters and sanctioning bodies. He introduced steroid legislation aimed at saving professional baseball from scandal, fans from deception and players from serious health problems.
McCain's stepson married one of my best friends from high school. They wed in my hometown of Cookeville, Tenn. Whenever I talked about my friend, McCain would reminisce fondly about the wedding, the beauty around the courthouse square and the friendliness of Southern people. His attention to detail made me homesick for the South.
I'm not sure I would call McCain a friend. He and I differ on some issues, including his inability to solve the border crisis. But he feels like one. He's grown on me over the years. I like his passion, even his volcanic temper.
If we cross paths and McCain were to ask my opinion, I'd say I've cringed repeatedly the last month over his comments and missteps with his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. I would tell him to trust his instincts. Go back to being the maverick John McCain who was not afraid of the political consequences of his decisions, whether it's supporting the surge in Iraq or pushing campaign-finance reform in Congress.
Right or wrong, voters like McCain's assertiveness. They just don't like him to pander or act wishy-washy. He looked like he was wearing a straitjacket in the first debate with Democrat Barack Obama to keep from hurting himself.
I can't believe McCain said "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" only hours before President Bush started lobbying Congress for a financial bailout plan. Hardly straight talk. The gaffe exposed McCain's weakness in the campaign, an inability to connect with average Americans on economic issues. Interestingly, Arizona was devastated by foreclosures last year and this year, so McCain should know the crisis first hand.
I never saw McCain buying groceries or driving his own car in Arizona, but doing more of both would have bolstered his chances. Being around real people would have reminded McCain of the average voter's pain. It took him too long to see the grass-roots push for change. It was almost too late for him to climb on board, even though he used the word change at least 10 times in his Republican National Convention acceptance speech.
I can't believe McCain let his staff isolate Palin, a charming, refreshing politician who breathed life back into his president aspirations. It doesn't matter what Palin says to Katie Couric or how many times she's mocked on "Saturday Night Live."
Before Palin, there was little passion for McCain. Even in Arizona, I was hard pressed to find a "McCain in 2008" bumper sticker before he found Palin and tapped into voters' desire for new faces and new ideas.
McCain is hardly an establishment candidate. Yet he has let Obama paint him as one. If McCain is going to show his temper, maybe it's time for him to vent in the next debate. He needs a momentum-changing event. I imagine heated straight talk directed at Obama would do the job.
Last year, pundits wrote McCain's political obituary. The GOP would nominate New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, we were told.
Those who do not know McCain underestimate him. Those of us who saw him regularly in Arizona understand his story. He's a former prisoner of war. He refuses to take no for an answer. He wants things his way. He likes to win.
Now the polls and pundits are suggesting Obama is pulling ahead. Three battleground states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, seem to be turning toward the Democrat. McCain has thrown in the towel in Michigan. More than 600,000 new voters have registered in North Carolina since 2004, with 48 percent signing up as Democrats.
Any other GOP candidate would have started to wave a white flag, anticipating a landslide loss similar to 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan swept Democrat Jimmy Carter out of office.
The signs point against McCain. But they've been ominous before.
My friends in Arizona say McCain's survival skills keep him in contention.
I agree. If he goes back to being the McCain I've known for 20 years, pushing his handlers aside and taking personal control of the Straight Talk Express, he still has a fighting chance.
• Contact Managing Editor James
Bennett at 704-789-9150 or jbennett@
independenttribune.com. Respond to this column with a Letter to the Editor by
e-mailing news@independenttribune.com. Comment online at www.independenttribune.com
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