ID :
26893
Mon, 10/27/2008 - 18:34
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/26893
The shortlink copeid
McCain vows for a comeback by Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Oct 27 (PTI) Trailing in a raft of polls with barely a week to go for the November four showdown, the Republican nominee for the Presidential election has vowed a comeback even if many political analysts have essentially come to the conclusion that it is a lost cause for the Arizona Senator.
The McCain campaign is taking some comfort in the fact that a small element of surveys is showing the race tightening and not anywhere close to the 13 to 15 point margin in favour of the Democratic front runner Senator Barack Obama.
And at a time when Senator McCain is seen to be distancing himself from the present incumbent George W. Bush and reaping some benefits out of the decision, the Arizona politician has said that he shares a common political philosophy with the Republican Party and has stood up to not only against President but also the Grand Old Party.
Participating in Meet The Press programme Sunday McCain
said, "those polls have been consistently shown me much
further behind than we actually are. It all depends on the
voter turnout model....everybody gets bored except for us
junkies about the process...We're doing fine. We have
closed in the last week. We continue this close through next
week, you're going to be up very, very late on election night.
"We are very competitive in many of the battleground
states, and I see these polls ranging from a 3-point gap,
today in Zogby, to your 11-point one.
And they're all over the map; and obviously, I choose to
trust my senses as well as polls. And I've been in a lot of
presidential campaigns, usually as the warm-up act or, you
know, one of those things. And I see intensity out there and I
see passion" he added.
Senator McCain sought to play down the impression that
somehow at the tail end of the campaign of 2008 he is coming
out swinging against President Bush.
Commenting on President Bush's policy in Iraq he said,
"the fact is I am not George Bush. The fact is that I was not
popular within my own party. The fact is that, when I said
that we were failing in Iraq and we were going to lose, I was
criticized by Republicans.
The fact is when I did campaign finance reforms with Russ
Feingold, I was opposed by my own party and my own president.
So, do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party?
Of course" Senator McCain said.
"I've stood up against my party, not just President Bush,
but others; and I've got the scars to prove it, including
taking up, with Ted Kennedy, immigration reform, knowing full
well that that was going to hurt my chances in the primaries.
So I could go down a long list of issues with you" he added.
"Do I respect President Bush? Of course I respect him.
But I pointed out we were on the wrong track in a whole lot of
ways, including a USD 10 trillion deficit, including saying we
got to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and propose
legislation to try to fix it before that triggered the housing
collapse, including today when I'm saying they should be going
out and buying up these mortgages and giving people mortgages
that they can afford rather than bailing out the banks"
Senator McCain said.
While the Arizona Senator and his running mate Governor
Sarah Palin of Alaska have refused to throw in the towel until
voters have had their say on November four, a good many
analysts including conservatives have come to believe that the
2008 Presidential election is basically over for it is
difficult for Senator McCain to stage a comeback as he has a
"steep hill to climb".
And that steep hill has to do with not only holding on
to what he has but Senator McCain wresting back such
Republican strongholds as Ohio, Virginia and Indiana which are
now being posted on Senator Obama's win column.
"...in order for McCain to win, he's got a very steep
hill to climb. He's got to win all of the toss-up states, 64
electoral votes... Then he needs to strip away Ohio and
Indiana with 31 electoral votes to get him to 252.
And then he needs to either win Colorado and Virginia,
which gets him to 274, or win one of them plus Pennsylvania,
which would get him to 282 or 286. It's a steep uphill climb"
said Karl Rove, the "architect" of President Bush's electoral
wins in 2000 and 2004. PTI
The McCain campaign is taking some comfort in the fact that a small element of surveys is showing the race tightening and not anywhere close to the 13 to 15 point margin in favour of the Democratic front runner Senator Barack Obama.
And at a time when Senator McCain is seen to be distancing himself from the present incumbent George W. Bush and reaping some benefits out of the decision, the Arizona politician has said that he shares a common political philosophy with the Republican Party and has stood up to not only against President but also the Grand Old Party.
Participating in Meet The Press programme Sunday McCain
said, "those polls have been consistently shown me much
further behind than we actually are. It all depends on the
voter turnout model....everybody gets bored except for us
junkies about the process...We're doing fine. We have
closed in the last week. We continue this close through next
week, you're going to be up very, very late on election night.
"We are very competitive in many of the battleground
states, and I see these polls ranging from a 3-point gap,
today in Zogby, to your 11-point one.
And they're all over the map; and obviously, I choose to
trust my senses as well as polls. And I've been in a lot of
presidential campaigns, usually as the warm-up act or, you
know, one of those things. And I see intensity out there and I
see passion" he added.
Senator McCain sought to play down the impression that
somehow at the tail end of the campaign of 2008 he is coming
out swinging against President Bush.
Commenting on President Bush's policy in Iraq he said,
"the fact is I am not George Bush. The fact is that I was not
popular within my own party. The fact is that, when I said
that we were failing in Iraq and we were going to lose, I was
criticized by Republicans.
The fact is when I did campaign finance reforms with Russ
Feingold, I was opposed by my own party and my own president.
So, do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party?
Of course" Senator McCain said.
"I've stood up against my party, not just President Bush,
but others; and I've got the scars to prove it, including
taking up, with Ted Kennedy, immigration reform, knowing full
well that that was going to hurt my chances in the primaries.
So I could go down a long list of issues with you" he added.
"Do I respect President Bush? Of course I respect him.
But I pointed out we were on the wrong track in a whole lot of
ways, including a USD 10 trillion deficit, including saying we
got to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and propose
legislation to try to fix it before that triggered the housing
collapse, including today when I'm saying they should be going
out and buying up these mortgages and giving people mortgages
that they can afford rather than bailing out the banks"
Senator McCain said.
While the Arizona Senator and his running mate Governor
Sarah Palin of Alaska have refused to throw in the towel until
voters have had their say on November four, a good many
analysts including conservatives have come to believe that the
2008 Presidential election is basically over for it is
difficult for Senator McCain to stage a comeback as he has a
"steep hill to climb".
And that steep hill has to do with not only holding on
to what he has but Senator McCain wresting back such
Republican strongholds as Ohio, Virginia and Indiana which are
now being posted on Senator Obama's win column.
"...in order for McCain to win, he's got a very steep
hill to climb. He's got to win all of the toss-up states, 64
electoral votes... Then he needs to strip away Ohio and
Indiana with 31 electoral votes to get him to 252.
And then he needs to either win Colorado and Virginia,
which gets him to 274, or win one of them plus Pennsylvania,
which would get him to 282 or 286. It's a steep uphill climb"
said Karl Rove, the "architect" of President Bush's electoral
wins in 2000 and 2004. PTI
