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Posted by Kate Butler Jul 16, 2007 |
While John McCain had a good run in 2000 versus our current president, George W. Bush, it is inevitably time to say goodbye to his 2008 campaign.
Losing major figures from his camp, coupled with extremely poor fundraising numbers, means that McCain is essentially finished. The charismatic war veteran may try to stay in the race for another 6 months or so, but it is hard to see how he can possibly win when the media has so clearly given up on his chances.
It is difficult to know exactly why McCain has had so much trouble this time around, as he came in as a clear frontrunner. Numerous bloggers have given diverse reasons, all of which probably have some truth: he was somewhat of a fluke in 2000 when he won the New Hampshire primary, and has not overcome his outsider image to build real credibility with a conservative Republican base.
Regardless of why his campaign has faltered, it is evident that the mainstream media has effectively decided that McCain is yesterday’s news. The Straight Talk Express had extensive journalistic coverage in 2000, when journalists found him warm, talkative and quotable. This time around, journalists knew his general shtick, and were wary of his attempts in the last eight years to cozy up to extremist Christian leaders.
Getting the ‘dead in the water’ columns and reports from well-known journalists in mainstream papers and on major networks is anathema to the well-being of any hopeful. It is better to have little media coverage because they know nothing of your campaign, than to have coverage which says that your campaign is officially toast.
McCain ran a troubled campaign that seemed to be stuck in the past, and yet he had managed to coast so far this time around. He still may be near the top of the polls now, but look for these numbers to drop substantially in the next few weeks- when the media declares your campaign dead in the water, you know it’s time to abandon ship.