DNC: McCain’s Crumbling Campaign Comes to Michigan

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May 8, 2007 -- In the wake of a failed effort to jumpstart his presidential campaign, Michigan voters will get a first hand look at John McCain’s crumbling candidacy. McCain will headline a fundraiser in Grosse Pointe tonight, just days after an “awkward” performance in last week’s Republican candidate debate that failed to revive his campaign. [Politico, 5/3/07]

McCain’s campaign has employed a desperate, do-anything-to-win strategy that has seen him use misleading rhetoric to defend his position on Iraq and left him running from his positions on everything from immigration to campaign finance reform. But McCain’s lackluster performance has left him shedding staff, sinking in the polls and lagging behind in the fundraising race.

“The John McCain that Michigan voters will see tonight is hardly the one that won the Michigan primary in 2000,” said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda. “After compromising his principles on everything from immigration to campaign finance reform, McCain’s do-anything-to-win presidential campaign has been stuck in a downward spiral for weeks. His failed PR strategy and retooled campaign can’t hide the fact that he is offering the voters more than the same failed leadership that the American people have already rejected from the current occupant of the White House.”

The following is a fact sheet on McCain’s crumbling campaign.
STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS STUCK IN THE STATION
Downward Spiral Stalls McCain’s Campaign

The John McCain campaign is desperate to recover from staff departures, poor fundraising, low poll numbers and McCain is compromising his principles in order to win the Republican nomination.
DERAILED: STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS FELL OUT OF TOUCH

McCain’s Prospects Began to Dim as a Result of His Do-Anything-to-Win Campaign. McCain’s support for the President’s failed strategy in Iraq combined with his leading role in pushing for the Bush-McCain escalation of the war began to dim the Senator’s prospects. A Los Angeles Times poll in early January showed 42 percent of all respondents and 43 percent of independents would be less likely to support McCain over the Bush-McCain escalation strategy. Eventually, however, it was his do-anything-to-win approach to the campaign for the GOP nomination that alienated moderates and independents, and continued to turn off conservatives who are “programmed to hate” him. McCain’s blatant pandering to conservatives took its toll early on, with the head of ARG, an independent polling firm, stating in January in no uncertain terms that, “McCain is tanking.” [Boston Herald, 1/18/07; LA Times/Bloomberg poll, 1/18/2007; The Hill, 1/18/2007; Roll Call, 1/10/07; Worldnetdaily.com, 1/13/07; AP, 1/17/07; The State, Op-Ed, 1/14/07; AP, 12/20/06; washingtonpost.com, The Fix, 1/16/07]

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McCain’s Downward Spiral Intensified When He Insisted He Could Safely Walk Around Certain Baghdad Neighborhoods. “McCain's latest problem began before he left for the region, when he told Bill Bennett on the radio that ‘there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk today.’ After Michael Ware of CNN's Baghdad bureau accused the senator of living in ‘Neverland,’ McCain charged that it's reporters who are living in a ‘time warp of three months ago.’” [Newsweek, Alter, 4/16/07 edition]

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Which Revealed How “Out of Sync” he is With American Voters. “McCain's in trouble because he is out of sync with the country and with himself. The senator's timing seems off in a way that might be admirable if it weren't so politically clumsy. And promoting success in Iraq seems at odds with the facts on the ground: the ‘significant progress’ McCain said he saw came when the average daily death toll of Iraqis was higher in March than in February.” [Newsweek, Alter, 4/16/07 edition]

DREADFUL DEBATE PERFORMANCE

National Review's Byron York: John McCain Didn’t Look So Good On TV. “The transcript does not show the strange little smile McCain made after he said 'gates of hell.' Maybe he was relishing the prospect of getting bin Laden. Maybe he just liked saying 'gates of hell' in a nationally televised political debate. In any event, like much of McCain’s performance Thursday night, it looked better in print than on TV.” [National Review, 5/4/07]

Politico: John McCain was the “Worst Playmaker.” “Worst Playmaker: John McCain. More chances than most to convert. More focused on his delivery...I'm passionate, dammit...than the message itself.” [Politico, 5/3/07]

Politico's Jonathan Martin: McCain was “Awkward” and “Uneven.” “The Arizona senator got off to an uneven start. It wasn’t so much his answers as it was his demeanor. He looked to be scowling and squinting as he gave his responses to national security-related questions. And his odd promise to kill and then follow Osama bin Laden to the 'gates of hell' was made even more awkward when he broke into a broad smile upon saying ‘hell.’” [Jonathan Martin Blog, Politico, 5/3/07]

Heeeeere's Johnny: McCain Looked Like "Something Out of The Shining". "'McCain looked like something out of The Shining, that part where Jack Nicholson goes GGGRRRRRR!' confided one adviser from a rival campaign." [National Review Online, 5/4/07]

McCain Looked Like Angry Neighbor. "'McCain looked like that guy down the street who yells at you to get off his lawn,' said one reporter." [National Review Online, 5/4/07]
MCCAIN CAMPAIGN STUCK WITH THE DOUBLE TALK CABOOSE

McCain Trails Other Candidates In Michigan Polls and Fundraising. Despite winning Michigan in 2000, McCain trails former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in fundraising in the state. Romney raised $1 million in the first quarter from Michigan donors, “five times more than any other candidate.” In addition, the latest statewide polls put former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ahead of McCain, 26 to 22 percent. [Detroit News, 4/30/07; PresidentPolls2008.com]

McCain, Once Considered the Frontrunner, Came in Last in Fundraising Among Top GOP Candidates. McCain announced in the beginning of April that he had raised only $12.5 million in the first fundraising quarter, putting him behind both top GOP candidates. “On the Republican side, obviously, everyone agrees the big loser is John McCain,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “That is really an unimpressive total, especially considering how long he’s been out there, how well-known he is.” [Arizona Republic, 4/3/07]

Trailing the Rest of the Pack, McCain Was Forced to “Overhaul” His Fundraising Operation. After a disappointing first quarter of fundraising, and taking increased criticism for his position on the Iraq war, Senator McCain “overhauled” his campaign finance operation and announced that he would delay “the official announcement of his candidacy.” The campaign said McCain “would adopt the kind of big-donor fund-raising program pioneered by President Bush,” and create “an honorary campaign designation to reward the campaign’s top money raisers. Mr. Bush called his Rangers and Pioneers; Mr. McCain will call his the McCain 100’s, for supporters who collect $100,000 for the campaign, and the McCain 200’s, who collect $200,000.” [New York Times, 4/4/07]

Now McCain’s Inner Circle Is Dropping Like Flies. In just the past few weeks, three of McCain’s top advisors have jumped ship. This week, Michael Dennehy, McCain’s political director and longtime advisor, resigned his post and returned to his home in New Hampshire. In late April, McCain lost two top staffers – his finance director and faith outreach director. Carla Eudy, “a longtime fundraising consultant for McCain,” left amid concerns about McCain’s money efforts. Marlene Elwell, “one of the Arizona Senator’s leading social conservative advocates” left a few days later. Elwell was based in Michigan and “led the marriage amendment campaign” in the state in 2004. [Union Leader, 5/8/07; Washington Post’s Political Blog, 4/24/07; Washington Post’s Political Blog, 4/26/07; Detroit Free Press, 5/2/07]
LOW ON FUEL, DOUBLE TALK CABOOSE WILL DO ANYTHING TO WIN

McCain Installed Lobbyist and Pork Project Proponent in Scramble to Jumpstart Fundraising. Senator McCain’s new senior fundraising official is a high-powered lobbyist and proponent of pork barrel projects, two areas that McCain has built his political career attacking. While McCain has criticized President Bush for his close relationship with the Saudi government and denounced the Saudi Arabian government for funding extremist groups, Mr. Loeffler was paid about $900,000 a year to lobby on behalf of the Kingdom. In addition, while McCain continues to campaign against pork spending, Mr.Loeffler has created about $40 million in federal pork spending as a lobbyist. [New York Post, 11/8/05; National Journal, 1/15/05; MSNBC Hardball, 10/16/02; Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/22/01; Lobbyist Disclosure Documents Filled with Secretary of the Senate, Citizens Against Government Waste Pig Book 2003-06]

McCain Flip-Flopped On Grassroots Lobbying Reform. McCain boasted that the legislation he introduced required “greater disclosure of the activities of lobbyists, including for the first time, grassroots lobbying firms.” Then he voted to strip the provision under pressure from conservatives, saying there were “ambiguities concerning it.” [Senate Floor, Introducing The Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2005, 12/16/05; S.Amdt.20 to S.1, Vote #17, 1/18/07, agreed to 55-43; R: 48-0, D: 7-43, McCain voted "Yea"; NBC, Meet the Press, 1/21/07]

Desperate For Cash, McCain Takes Lobbyist Tribal Money. According to The Hill, McCain “has sworn off taking tribal money in his presidential campaign but continues to accept donations from lobbyists whose firms represent tribal clients.” Records show that lobbying firms “who competed with Abramoff for tribal clients prior to the probe,” and have subsequently inherited Abramoff’s clients, consistently give to McCain’s campaign effort. [The Hill, 5/8/07]

Source: DNC