Word: upstart
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Faced with the end of an exhilarating Republican skirmish, the pundits speculated endlessly through the night, trying to pinpoint the moment at which John McCain's upstart campaign derailed. Some pointed to his loss in a bitter South Carolina contest; others blamed his lackluster showing in Washington State for slowing his momentum. But while the geographical epicenter of McCain's defeat will remain a matter of spirited debate, there is little doubt as to his demographic downfall. Core Republicans, along with self-identified Christian conservatives, voted for Governor Bush in droves, apparently punishing McCain for his spirited denunciation...
...Pequots that were handed over to the Mohegans in the deal never quite gave up their old identity, and gradually they recreated the tribe. Three hundred and fifty years later, revenge is sweet: Foxwoods pulls rank on upstart Mohegan Sun. Entering a new era in the tribe's saga, the descendants of the last of the Pequots have resurrected the tribe once more. But Trump's question remains: instead of the continuation of a tradition, is the tribe's latest, capitalist recreation just an embarrassing parody--even an exploitation--of its own past...
After all, McCain prides himself on his appeal to younger voters, so what better way to connect with Generation Y than through Internet pornography, that upstart competitor to the old-school Playboy institution? In fact, Internet porn could be seen as a metaphor for the McCain campaign; rebellious, accessible to the masses and dominated by anti-establishment personalities...
...fellow upstart John McCain is trying to play the hardest role of all: a Washington insider with a conservative record running as a maverick outsider on a centrist platform, against the guy his whole party crowned months ago. Maybe that's why he seems to be having the most fun onstage; no one in the audience has a clue about what he's going to do next. But it's a lot to juggle: his rhetoric as a reformer against his record as a Commerce Committee chairman; his reputation as a straight talker against his need to mollify flag wavers...
Bush and his advisers think McCain's strategy on tax cuts is a mistake big enough to cost the upstart challenger his chance to win New Hampshire. "You can't run to the left on taxes in this state and win the Republican primary," says New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, Bush's state chairman. Gregg may be right about his home state but wrong about the rest of the country. In the TIME/CNN poll, Republicans by more than 2 to 1 say they would rather have a smaller tax cut with more money going to Social Security and debt repayment...