Ok, with tonight's apparent win for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania , perhaps by big numbers, it's pretty obvious that they are going to continue throwing mashed potatoes at each other in the Democrat primary for the foreseeable future. That will keep both Obama and Clinton in the news, and provide endless hours of entertainment for McCain supporters.

Meanwhile, John McCain has a general election campaign to run, money to raise and points to make. What is the best way for him to do this while the Democrats are loading up at the pasta bar for the next round? I think he definitely wants to stay as far away from this fight as possible. For one he needs the money for campaigning, not dry cleaning and there's a saying...



I think McCain can instead start building his case on the issues against both of them. They really aren't that different issue-wise, and this current fight is all about presentation and form, no substance. (Hence the food fight analogy for those who don't get it).

So, the questions for Republicans to debate are....

What should John McCain be doing on the campaign trail right now and how should he do it?


Aquilla

What should John McCain be doing on the campaign trail right now and how should he do it?

McCain should do what he does best, getting in front of individual voters at townhall meetings and taking all questions. Right now he has no chance of stealing a lot of media spotlight, but he also has the luxury of being allowed to one at a time it. His 'Forgotten America' tour is just the sort of thing that plays to McCain's strengths. He probably needs to be in more battleground areas when he's doing it in the future, but with apparently another 5 weeks to use he has time to hit PA, MI, WI, MN, & OH. A CA tour with Arnold might be a good idea or NJ tour with Rudy. McCain needs the townhall, open exchange format. He's best that way. Being out there completely open to anyone shows a sharp contrast between him and Mr. "Come on! I just answered, like, eight questions" "Why can't I just eat my waffle?" Obama too. It shows McCain is looking to solve problems and talk about whatever issues or concerns are out there.

I think he needs to do everything he can to stay in the news, and I mean everything. With the news focusing so much on a tight Democratic race why not make public appearances at victory speeches of Obama and Clinton? Sounds weird but I just talked to a left leaning local 21 year old that doesn't even know who John McCain is! Sometimes I think they should bump up the voting age by a couple years, lol. The idea of showing up at public appearances of your opponent, wishing them luck, telling them your looking forward to possibly running against them keeps your face in the papers and shows a personal effort to be interested in the positions of your opponent, which is good considering that most of those positions are what separates McCain from the other two.

Other appearances should be made on popular news shows and even other venues such as SNL, Red Eye, The daily Show, and even somthing as unexpected as appearing on Oprah, im sure she would have him even if she is as liberal as Obama. Ive seen him make some appearances such as this but he needs to up the anti a bit.

Beyond the media comes the importance of building a strong base and organizing your campaign, he has much money to be raised, as well as convincing the skeptics on the far right some of whom think he is not conservative enough.

Now on the bright side he is gaining on both Clinton and Obama in most National polls significantly since he clinched the republican Nomination. He is virtually tied with Hillary and close to tied with Obama. In comparison to months ago I don't think there was a single national poll where he was leading, now he is leading in several national polls which is promising........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080410/ap_on_...al_race_ap_poll


The Liberal left in many cases is assuming a Democrat will without a doubt win this presidency, this is particuarly true of Obama Supporters Ive noticed.
There is no doubt this will be a challenging election for Republicans for a few reasons. We will be shooting for a third straight term for one, secondly the reputation of the Bush administration has shrunk our party somewhat.

One thing I think that is being overlooked is how the left has a habit of peaking early in presidential elections and then losing steam as the election day grows closer. In 2000 Bush lost the popular vote yet managed to win by grabbing the majority of Electoral Votes, Florida, and Gores home state of Tennessee were key for him to win but both were upsets for him, the left was confident he would be our next president, didn't happen. Of course some complain that bush cheated lol, which is sometimes typical of people who don't like losing.

Then again in 2004 Kerry was favored to win up until the end of the election. National polls such as Zogby International were predicting a marginal win for Kerry, again it didn't happen. Kerry loses both the majority of the popular vote and electoral votes. I believe this is due to the fact that many on the left tend to be younger, tend to be famous like the majority of actors, and singers, and tend to have slightly more influence in the media. Conservatives on the other hand from what I've seen are older and far more reserved. Like my Uncle Pat, he talks about politics about as much as he talks about tampons. Lol, in other words not often. Yet come election time I know where his vote is going. Same goes for my father.

So I believe there is far less hype and buildup surrounding the conservative party in general, so when push comes to shove this has put conservatives in the white house more times in American History than Liberals not to mention that 5 of the last 7 presidents were Republicans. So the left is having some fun right now but I believe this election will be another close one, perhaps as close as the last two have been, cetainly a lot closer than some seem to be assuming.
I heard one lady on another forum in another site say...... ((Republicans? Who cares about them they don't have a chance)) something like that.

I do have to admit that this one will be particuarly tough, its not often a party maintains the White house 3 straight terms, and the left is stepping up their rhetoric with the Bush - McCain comparisons. Lol, you gotta luv it though, because if they do lose I will be laughing my rear end off man, that I know.
With this setup and all this hype, if they lose yet again! yea I'll be laughing.