Yesterday, in a rather odd conclusion, Time’s Mark Halperin concluded that John McCain had “won the week.” Noting all of the many problems McCain had this week, I, among others, argued that this analysis didn’t make any sense at all.
What I’d neglected to remember, however, was that this was supposed to be the week that the McCain campaign “rebooted.” There’s a new campaign manager, a new political director, a new field director, a new campaign structure, and a revamped message. Forget about that unfocused, directionless Republican campaign we’ve been watching; this new, more professional, campaign operation would show a team firing on all cylinders.
This was supposed to be the week John McCain unveiled his new campaign, more disciplined and acutely focused on the economy. The goal proved elusive: The presumptive Republican nominee spent the week cleaning up after controversial statements by himself and his surrogates, and trying to counter any impression that he overlooks the pain of struggling Americans.
McCain seemed to call Social Security a “disgrace,” was struck wordless on video when asked whether insurance companies should have to pay for birth control and, perhaps most damagingly, had to deny his own advisor’s assertion that, when it comes to the economy, America has become “a nation of whiners.”
Through the week, that dissonance undercut McCain’s effort to showcase his plans for the nation’s foundering economy. And it handed Barack Obama an opening to display sympathy for stressed Americans of the very sort who have cast a skeptical eye on the Democrat’s candidacy.
There was no green backdrop for any of his speeches, but that’s about the only thing that went according to plan.
The WSJ noticed the same problem.
After a rocky three months, John McCain’s presidential campaign embarked this week on a clear mission: present a tightly focused economic message, replacing the blurry, often-conflicting signals Sen. McCain had been sending voters.
Everything the campaign could plan for was carefully choreographed. Events, once thrown together with little more than a flag and a microphone, were thoughtfully staged, including a rug with the campaign logo and soft lighting on the candidate. The Arizona Republican, not known for his oratorical skills, delivered his scripted speeches with confidence and accuracy. His top economic advisers were methodically dispatched to host conference calls and appear on cable networks.
Then came the questions.
Now, some of McCain’s mishaps just happened to coincide in one week. We didn’t know Phil Gramm was going to pop off about how dumb Americans are about their own economic conditions. We didn’t know Fiorina was going to implicitly denounce her own candidate’s position on health insurance and birth control. Incidents like these could have happened any time, but they happened to converge in one week. That’s not the campaign’s fault, necessarily.
But the broader problem is with the candidate and his agenda. The political establishment made it seem as if a new team would make McCain a better candidate. That’s nonsense — you can slap a coat of paint on a rusted, broken-down car, but the underlying problems will remain.
Indeed, most of this week’s problems highlight the fundamental flaws with McCain and his pitch. When his “economic plan” was panned, it was because the plan was ridiculous. When withdrawal talk came out of Iraq and put McCain on the defensive, it’s because his war policy is backwards. When he described the structure of Social Security as a “total disgrace,” McCain was saying what he actually believes.
I don’t doubt that Steve Schmitt is a better campaign manager than Rick Davis. But unless Republicans are prepared to swap nominees, too, there’s only so much Schmitt can do.