Word: gop
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Crisis Debate Running Mates Momentum ACTION Amid all the finger-pointing, Democrats and many Republicans agree that Barack Obama may now have a potentially decisive advantage. The furious electorate seems to be placing much of the blame for fiscal disaster and Washington's bedlam on President Bush and the GOP--the party of John McCain. National polls and many pundits suggested that Obama bested McCain in the first showdown. More important, McCain made little progress toward his two vital goals: painting his rival as an unacceptable choice for President and shaking up the dynamics of the race. If Obama...
Democrats may smile as they remember the first time they watched the GOP struggle with a battered Administration, a sour economy and a controversial war. The Dems cleaned up in '74 and won a majority of the popular vote for President in '76--the only time they've managed that in 40 years. But they should not forget how the movie ended four years later...
...long-term political costs by distracting from, or eroding, the central McCain message. By comparing Obama to a vacuous Hollywood starlet, McCain found a coherent critique of Obama but relinquished his own ability to rise above the political maw. By choosing Sarah Palin, he lit a grass fire of GOP enthusiasm but risked undermining his ticket's claim of having greater experience and putting "country first." By attacking Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment, the campaign clearly established itself as willing to engage in frivolous, small-ball distractions, a disposition that served McCain poorly when he pivoted and tried...
...qualifications and competence remained unanswered, and after a series of stumbling television interviews, voters - and even some conservatives - have begun to sour on her. "Everyone was high-fiving each other after they picked her because their goal was to steal Obama's momentum for a week," says a second GOP consultant, who also did not want to be named while criticizing the campaign. "Well, they did that. Now look what they...
...deeper problem, say growing numbers of worried GOP establishment types, is that while lurching around to win the daily and weekly news cycles, McCain has failed to give voters a broad, forward-looking explanation for why they should support him. McCain's national-security experience and reputation as a reformer add substance to his theme of "putting country first," but they don't explain what a McCain presidency would mean, or how it would differ from the past eight years. "At no point have they told the American people where John wants to lead them," says a third Republican strategist...