COLUMBUS, Ohio - Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he knows he has some work to do to repair his party’s image with U.S. voters and he wants to start by pushing his pledge to rein in government spending.
McCain told reporters on Wednesday there was no doubt the Republican brand had fallen out of favor and said a series of special election defeats for the party recently underscored that.
“We have to re-energize our base,” the Arizona senator told reporters during a visit to a recycling plant near Columbus.
McCain said a key priority will be to show voters that he is committed to lean budgets. McCain is also trying to court independent voters by pushing more moderate policies than President George W. Bush on some issues such as the environment.
“We need to most of all … stop the out-of-control spending, be committed again to being careful stewards of the American people’s tax dollars,” McCain said. A run-up in spending on Bush’s watch is one of the reasons the president has lost some support among Republicans. Bush’s approval rating is at roughly 30 percent in many surveys, close to an all-time low.
On Tuesday, Democrat Travis Childers won a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Mississippi, in an election that was seen as a warning sign for Republicans that the unpopularity of Bush and the Iraq war may pose difficulties for the party in November, both in the presidential race and in congressional elections.
Childers defeated Greg Davis in a run-off to fill a vacant seat in Mississippi’s first congressional district. Vice President Dick Cheney had campaigned against Childers and Republican ads tried to link him to Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama, viewed by many Mississippians as too liberal.
(Rep. Thomas Davis of Virginia, former chairman of the House Republican campaign committee, wrote in a letter to House Republican leaders after the Mississippi loss, “The Republican brand is in the trash can.”)
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” McCain said. “I have a lot of work to do. I understand the challenge. I’m confident at the end of the day that my vision and plan for action for this nation will gain a majority of the votes. But I have no illusions.”
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Photo: Reuters/Richard Clement - Republican presidential candidate Sen.John McCain addresses employees at the Vestas Wind Technology plant in Portland, Oregon May 12, 2008.
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4 comments so far
Really? So John, you do understand what’s happening to both sides of the ticket. Now there’s an opinion that could make every politician squirm. “What really? we’re imperfect?”
Stop focusing on Politics, and focus on Hometown (being the United States) Government.
- Posted by SarahSarah is insightful.
Isn’t McCain yesterdays man?
Who in their right mind would bother voting for more of same - let alone a man who may die from old age?
America wake up! Don’t sacrifice your brains on the altar of McCain’s vanity and misplaced determination.
Let him retire and grow vegetables elsewhere!
- Posted by Keith M WarwickRepublicans be afraid. Be very afraid. The gig is up. The American people have discovered that you are a fraud. Your crooked deeds have been exposed. Lady Justice is upon you. You are a dinosaur and your fossils will do nothing but further incriminate you. Once “safe” districts are lost. Tom Delay’s seat is ours. Your church of greed and corporate profiteering has collapsed. Try, as you may to put lipstick and fancy clothes on the pig of your pathetic existence, you will be recognized for what you are. It is over.
- Posted by hesingswithfrogsMccain is lost, he doesn’t have a clue. Conservatives are looking at 2012 after four years under a democrat. They will survive just like we survived under Carter. The RNC and Bush’s sad record brought this on and no amount of pandering will change it. All to do now is hold on for four and a half years and pick up the pieces.
- Posted by howardI will keep my integrity and not hold my nose.