However, since Karl Rove unofficially took over McCain's campaign during a commercial break at Fox News, McCain has been managing to accomplish an impressive feat - he's showing the radical right that he's one of them, while showing low information voters he's some type of centrist.
The first example is McCain's mistaken references to Iran training Al Qaeda terrorists. While Britt Hume did his best to bail out McCain by saying he was just an old guy struggling with his thought process, liberal bloggers went haywire on the issue, correctly pointing out that if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton had made the same mistake, the mainstream media would have convicted and shot both for treason and then ran around killing each other to see who could get final possession of the conch.
But while the mainstream media proved it really didn't care about McCain's knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs, possibly due to being too stuffed full of ribs at a McCain backyard barbecue, one section of the American public heard exactly what McCain was saying - the radical right (or "conservatives").
Could it be that McCain just didn't know the gaffes he was making? No, not at all. He knew exactly what he was doing. After all the "Saddam = Al Qaeda" plan worked so well that many Americans still believe it. So why not start the "Iran = Al Qaeda" meme?
Because if there's one thing true American conservatives want, it's to wage war on, and then occupy Iran. For the average radical right-winger, that is their sole purpose for living. McCain was making no mistake. He was letting conservatives know that he is one of them. It was letting them know that a vote for McCain is not just a vote for George W. Bush, it's a vote for guaranteed war on Iran.
On the other end of the spectrum, recently the mainstream media has actually started to report on McCain's dalliances with Democrats over the years, including mentioning that McCain had given thought to changing parties and had approached John Kerry about being his 2004 running mate. While McCain has denied that he made the initial approach, the story still was out there. John McCain considered the ultimate taboo by turning Democrat.
Now while this would seem to be a horrible problem for McCain, it's actually a positive if you think about it. It comes down to one simple fact - there is no way in hell that any Republican will vote for Clinton or Obama. There's as good as chance of that happening as there is that McCain would
McCain is the Republican nominee. Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and other radical right entertainers can scream all they like, but when they vote, they'll vote McCain. So will everyone else who counts themselves as a conservative. Those votes are a lock.
But low information voters - like the ones being pursued by the insipid "Divided We Fail" campaign - eat this sort of thing up. People who vote based on things like who they'd like to have a beer with will see something like that and think "well, he's a centrist I think, let's vote for him. Now quick, honey, turn on 'Biggest Loser.'"
The reality seems to be thus, McCain - who is actually running on the "I'm George W. Bush but for the love of God don't mention George W. Bush" platform - has managed to connect with both the radical right and independent low-information voters in one week.
With Rove
Maybe I'm wrong. But sometimes one can get lost in being a political junkie and miss the bigger picture. And for the 2008 election, the big picture all comes down to McCain keeping conservatives happy while seducing low-information independents. And in one week, it seems, he's managed to do a little of both.
--WKW
*HT Lindsay Beyerstein at Majikthise.
