EVALUATING THE MCCAIN “BRAND”
April 11th, 2008, 12:34 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean announced to the media today that he found some interesting tidbits from a recent focus group test of swing voters. See what they are after the jump.
ABC News reports:
“Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that swing voters participating in focus groups commissioned by the D.N.C. bring up John McCain’s age unprompted.”We didn’t bring it up, but they volunteered it,” said Dean in response to a reporter’s question. He went on to explain that voters have expressed two concerns about McCain’s age. “One was a health concern, the other was, and this is really interesting . . . that his views are old-fashioned.”
At the age of 72, McCain would be the oldest newly elected president in U.S. history if inaugurated in 2009.
But it doesn’t look like the Democratic game book plan involves bringing that fact up to voters during the general election:
“I doubt we will bring it up in the election,” said Dean, referring to the age issue. “There is somewhat of a higher ethical bar on what we do.”
“We don’t have any Lee Atwaters or Karl Roves on our side,” he added.
“We don’t have to,” added D.N.C. spokeswoman Karen Finney. “I know the McCain campaign is saying he’s a strong brand. He’s not a strong brand. He’s actually a pretty weak candidate.”
“I don’t think we have to bring up age,” said Cornell Belcher, an Obama pollster who collaborated on the D.N.C.’s McCain poll. “I don’t think we will.”
Other parts of the focus group results may give the McCain campaign pause:
Referring to what Dean characterized as the party’s most conservative focus group in Charleston, W. Va., the DNC chairman said “the women in that group were shocked that [McCain] believed health insurance shouldn’t cover birth control pills and they were shocked about his belief in abstinence only education.”"
There are a couple of other good pieces today on McCain…
Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson argues McCain “coasts on the illusion we want to believe:”
“I don’t buy his take on the war but, like half of America, I want to. Deep down, we can’t accept limitations on our good intentions. We hate to hear that a military surge didn’t produce a political surge that created a Jeffersonian democracy or some reasonable facsimile thereof.”
At the same time, Steve Huntley of the Chicago Sun Times says a good indication that McCain will be a formidable opponent in November is seeing how much more shrill Democratic attacks have been towards him in recent days:
“The recent attacks could be written as standard political hardball in a hotly contested race. But, as McCain points out, Obama has promised a campaign of hope, free of the cynicism and divisive ugly politics of the past. True, good intentions tend to go by the wayside when you’re battling for the most powerful job in the world. And the line between legitimate electioneering and reckless politics can be fuzzy. Still, all this does leave Obama looking a bit more like just another politician.”
What do you think? Will McCain’s age hurt him in the fall? Does he have issues with his “brand?” How do you feel about his stance on Iraq, & his statement that he’d be in favor of having U.S. troops there “100 years” if that’s what it takes? Will Democratic attacks against him only hurt them? Post a comment right now & let us know!
