07/03/2008 (7:56 am)
Read This Post. Then You’ll Be Sorry.
I’m Eeyore today, so if you’re looking for a nice, morning pick-me-up, read this post, then you’ll be sorry.
The good news is that the McCain campaign announced a huge shakeup. They’re reorganizing. That’s the good news. The bad news is, they had to.
The complaints about the McCain campaign got aired yesterday by David Paul Kuhn at Politico, and then, as if by magic, the New York Times today annouced the reorganization of McCain’s campaign under the new direction of Steve Schmidt, who ran the War Room for Karl Rove’s 2004 Bush re-election campaign.
Think that might feed Obama’s “McCain is Bush the Third” meme? A little?
The basic story is, the McCain campaign had no strategy, no organization, and no fund-raising effort. They had four months in which to establish a theme while his opponent slugged out a bloody 15-rounder with the avatar of Hekate (look it up). So, how many McCain ads have you seen? Read the articles in Politico and the Times; I’m not a campaign pro, they are, and what they’re saying is pretty disheartening.
Those who have read this blog regularly (the few, the faithful…) may have noticed that I was pretty rough on John McCain until he clinched the nomination, and then I shut up about him. That wasn’t political strategy, folks, that was me looking for things to say about him and not finding any. He’s been… crud, I really hate to use this term concerning a Republican presidential candidate, given Democratic snarking over the past several years, but… AWOL.
Chris Muir had the correct take on it just last week:
Zzzzz. Exactly.
Allahpundit at Hot Air is more cynical than usual this morning in his observations about the shake-up, reviewing the comments from political insiders:
Still not worried? Here’s former McCain aide John Weaver’s take via TNR: “They couldn’t continue to go on without a field organization and without the basic architecture of a traditional campaign… There’s a requirement for basic competence, and that’s what this change says.” In other words, you need an actual organization to win a presidential campaign. Evidently it took the McCain camp four months to figure that out, pissing away the huge lead time his early primary win gave him over Obama in the process.
Reminds me of a conversation between Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. from the movie Wonder Boys, in which Downey’s character bemoans the descent of his career at the publishing house he represents: “I don’t fit the new corporate profile.” “Which is?” “I don’t know… competence?”
The McCainians tried to slough off the concern, observing in the Times,
“Voters don’t care about the organizational chart of our campaign,” said Jill Hazelbaker, the campaign spokesman, adding: “Today’s move is simply an expression of our understanding of the need to scale up for a general election campaign against Barack Obama.”
Um… you’re wrong, Jill. I care. I look at how a candidate runs his operation as an indicator of how he’s going to run the government. I’m glad you finally figured out there was a problem, but I’m not impressed so far.
I’ve said from the beginning that I did not think McCain would make a good President, and today, I’m more convinced of it than ever. Given that the Republican brand has been so badly damaged by Bush Derangement and disgust with a do-nothing, nest-feathering Republican Congress, I’m not so sure I want another mediocre Republican President. The likelihood is four years of mismanagement, followed by 8 years of the worst Democrat you could possibly imagine; if Obama loses in 2008, do you suppose he might run again in 2012? If I thought the republic could actually survive an Obama presidency, I might have taken a Rush Limbaugh pass on this election.
To be candid, I’ve always been a little contemptuous of those folks who griped about how the Presidential election didn’t offer them a real choice. I still feel that way; there’s a difference between the two parties, and if you’re wondering what it is. read my essay from yesterday entitled “Patriotism Wars.” However, I feel like I have a Hobson’s choice here. Obama is simply not an option. He’d be a complete disaster; the worst of Jimmy Carter’s incompetence, but with charisma, and wholehearted capitulation to World Socialism on all fronts. So my only choice is… a crowd-following, semi-competent war hero?
Ann Coulter’s latest column provides the only plausible response:
…we should organize parties around the country where Republicans can get drunk so they can vote for McCain. We can pass out clothespins with his name as a reminder and slogan-festooned vomit bags. The East Coast parties can post the number of drinks necessary for the task to help the West Coast parties. For more information, go to getdrunkandvote4mccain.com.
At least she’s not going to get to vote for Hillary. That’s something.
Have a great day, folks.
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1 Comment »
Comment by Allah
Thanks for the link, but that was my cynicism venting at Hot Air, not Ed’s.
(Webmaster notes: Oops. Well, that explains why it sounded more cynical than Ed usually sounds. The correction has been made.)
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