McCain Seeks to Regain
Footing After a Bad Week
By JACKIE CALMES
April 7, 2007; Page A2
In short order, John McCain has gone from Republican presidential front-runner to political death watch. On Wednesday, the Arizona senator kicks off a month of high-profile events, seeking a resurrection of sorts.
He badly needs it. Mr. McCain just reported raising $12.5 million for the first-quarter -- behind Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, as well as Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Most analysts won't go so far as to bury Mr. McCain, citing his Republican rivals' own baggage: Both Mr. Romney and Mr. Giuliani are suspect among social conservatives for their records supporting abortion and gay rights, and gun control. But the one-time GOP front-runner clearly had a very bad week.
It began with reports of the heavily guarded senator shopping at a Baghdad market and declaring "things are better," and it ended with a New Hampshire poll showing Mr. McCain, the longtime leader in that first-primary state, now in a dead heat with Mr. Romney. Sandwiched in between were the stories of his money woes.
All of that makes next week -- and the next month -- critical to the survival of his candidacy. Mr. McCain's campaign scheduled three policy speeches in consecutive weeks, culminating April 25-27 with his "official" announcement tour through early nominating states of New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina and finally to his home state of Arizona. Wednesday's first speech, at the Virginia Military Institute, will showcase Mr. McCain's "commitment to winning the war in Iraq."
Trouble is, no one doubts Mr. McCain's commitment. But recent polls show the public is increasingly doubtful of the prospects of winning the war. And that, in turn, may be undercutting Mr. McCain's chances of winning the nomination.
The senator's war stand is a popular one with Republican voters, but polls show they are not rewarding him, given longstanding resentment of his maverick ways. Meanwhile, the independents once attracted to him for just that reason no longer see him as the straight-talker of the 2000 campaign. For many independents, that brand has gone to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. And with Mr. McCain's electability in question, many conservative donors appear to have decided he is not a good investment.
As for Mr. Romney, enjoying a much-needed second look, the former Massachusetts governor will speak on Tuesday at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas -- "on ways to confront the new generation of challenges we face," says a spokesman.
He was invited as part of the library's lecture series. Republicans say the current President Bush wouldn't want to signal any Bush-family favoritism toward Mr. Romney this early, especially with Mr. McCain the administration's most prominent war supporter. On a personal level, moreover, several members of the Bush inner circle have joined Team McCain, including former strategists Mark McKinnon and Steve Schmidt.
Write to Jackie Calmes at jackie.calmes@wsj.com |
