Word: mccain
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...there was only one real reason for that: Sarah Palin. Two simple words, but with a lot of meaning to unpack. First comes star power - Palin has it; McCain doesn't, and neither did any of the other men who ran for the party's nomination this year, which is why McCain managed to outlast them. As the also-rans trooped onstage to deliver their obligatory endorsements, Republicans were reminded that Mitt Romney looked like a leading man but lacked the magic; that Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee were never going to be more than character actors; and that Rudy...
...took one of John McCain's biggest weaknesses among Republicans and turned it into a strength. The conservative Christian leader Richard Land has said that what makes the base of the party so uncomfortable with McCain is not so much his unorthodoxy as his sheer unpredictability. They're never sure what he'll do next. But along comes Palin, McCain's wildest move yet - the Top Gun fighter jock, alone in his jet, throwing the stick hard over just to see what might happen - and she turns out to be everything the base could dream of. For at least...
...another level, Palin thrilled the Republicans by showing that Barack Obama has vulnerabilities, and she knows how to poke them. When McCain sprang his surprise choice on the public, the initial analysis held that by putting the rookie Governor of Alaska on the ticket he had erased the issue of experience. But like a lot of early thinking, that was wrong. Palin put the experience issue front and center, because suddenly America was seriously weighing the relative qualifications of the Democratic nominee versus the recent mayor of Wasilla. That's a comparison Obama loses simply by being involved...
...same time, Palin's freshness and spunk gave McCain the boost he needed to try the same midcourse correction Hillary Clinton made last spring. As with Clinton, McCain's first instinct was to run on wisdom and longevity against the newcomer Obama. And as Clinton did, McCain discovered that many Americans are sick of experience if it means an M.B.A. in business-as-usual. So, again like Clinton, McCain shifted to the "fighter" theme: "I fight for Americans," he declared in his acceptance speech. "I fight for you." And he returned to the theme in the rousing finish...
...Still another layer: Palin signaled to a disheartened GOP that there's a future. Republicans know that their party has plunged in popularity, and most of them will agree with John McCain that they have themselves to blame. "We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption," McCain told the delegates. "We lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles." After decades of promising smaller government, fiscal discipline and military competence, the GOP got the reins of government, expanded its power, blew out the budget and blundered through...