Posted on 02/02/2008 6:59:52 PM PST by jdm
The Sunday Telegraph spent three days with the man most likely to be the next president of the United States, riding on his bus and plane, as a campaign that still sees itself as a guerrilla force built on his victory in Tuesday's Florida primary
John McCain got to sit in the Oval Office last week. What's more, while there he received the quiet blessing of Nancy Reagan, widow of the man every Republican candidate wants to emulate.
In fact he was visiting a replica of America's most famous office, at the Reagan presidential library in California, the venue for Wednesday's Republican debate. But if the polls are anything to go by, John McCain might find himself in the real thing after the US elections in November.
Yesterday the Arizona senator revealed that he thinks he can wrap up the Republican White House nomination on Tuesday, when Republicans in 21 states go to the polls, in what will be the biggest single day of voting in presidential primary election history.
"Not often do I ask for divine intercession, but I have asked for that, yes," he told reporters on his campaign jet. "From what we see in the polls, I think there's a very good chance it could be over on Tuesday."
His position as hot favourite marks one of the most remarkable political resurrections of modern times.
The "Valley of the Shadow" sounds like a boys' own frontier tale in the mould of Flashman or Sharpe, but that is how his closest aides refer to the bleak time last July when his campaign was broke, senior staff were laid off and journalists flocked to Mr McCain's side to write his political obituary.
The Sunday Telegraph spent three days with the man most likely to be the next president of the United States, riding on his bus and plane, as a campaign that still sees itself as a guerrilla force built on his victory in Tuesday's Florida primary.
In conversations with Mr McCain and his closest aides, a picture emerges of a stoic man and a fanatically loyal band of brothers, slowly coming to terms with their need to evolve into an establishment army, capable of uniting the Republican Party and ultimately the nation.
Mr McCain is clear about how he won over voters in the early primaries. He told The Sunday Telegraph: "I think primarily by telling them the truth. It worked in New Hampshire, it didn't work in Michigan; it worked in South Carolina. The first thing you've got to do is win the voters' respect and then you win them over."
But he knows that is not the whole story. "And a whole lot of luck. That's why I am superstitious. That's why I carry this penny around," he said brandishing a dull brown coin from his trouser pocket.
The coin in question was given to him on the evening of the New Hampshire primary, where his victory re-launched his presidential bid. "I worry about sitting down somewhere and it spilling out of my pocket," he said.
It is classic McCain, full of quirky charm - the same McCain who watched with glee as one of his senior aides was accosted by a policeman at the Reagan library on Wednesday.
Steve Dupree had loaned his credentials to another member of the inner circle. "Is this guy OK?" the policeman asked the candidate.
"Hell no!" replied Mr McCain, leaving an amused but bewildered Mr Dupree to talk his way out of the problem.
But there is the other McCain: the legendary temper, tethered by a dangerously short fuse. That McCain was on display later that evening in a fractious debate exchange with Mitt Romney, the multi-millionaire former Massachusetts governor, who is now all that stands between him and the Republican nomination.
Mr McCain, resentful at Mr Romney's claims that he is not a true conservative, launched a grim-faced attack on his rival, claiming that he once supported a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The McCain facial muscles worked themselves into unappealing sneers and smirks.
Characteristically, his aides made little attempt to justify the display. Mark Salter, Mr McCain's confidante, speechwriter and co-author told The Sunday Telegraph: "He was tired. They were working their asses off in Florida. They were up late. Romney popped him and he thought he would pop right back.
"Believe me it could have been a lot worse."
By Thursday Mr McCain was exuding an air of beatific calm as he received the endorsement of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a key boost to his hopes in the state where the most presidential delegates can be won on Tuesday.
With Rudy Giuliani and Texas Governor Rick Perry already on board McCain has access to vital fundraising networks in America's three richest states. Forced in November to take out a bank loan, supported by a life insurance policy, he is now raising money easily and the endorsements are flooding in.
"We're getting a lot of calls from people, saying: 'Didn't you get the fax I sent endorsing you three weeks ago?'" said one senior aide. "It has been a flood since Florida."
The endorsements have handed him millions of dollars of free air time, allowing him to compete with Mr Romney's deeper pockets.
The new money is paying for a nationwide cable television ad buy that plays heavily on the personal history that is written in the stiffness of his movements. The simple act of drinking a cup of coffee betrays the fact that the former Naval aviator cannot lift his arms above shoulder height, the legacy of five years of torture in a Vietnamese PoW camp.
But he is trim and dapper and exudes a crackling energy that belies his 71 years. Like a shark, he appears to need to keep moving, bustling about the stage at his rallies like an impatient drill sergeant, spitting out one liners in staccato bursts.
It is only up close that his age is obvious in a face of parchment skin, though it has benefited from a dose of sun in both Florida and LA.
His energy, as much as his principles and his belief, kept him viable when many candidates would have packed up and gone home.
Mr Salter said: "It wasn't particularly pleasant. He had to bite hard and be stoic knowing the large contingent of press were obituary writers - vultures really. We felt like carrion.
"The strategy was simple: win New Hampshire. Luckily for us it is the state that he works better than any other living politician. The typical McCain town hall meeting involves him arguing with at least one voter.
"In New Hampshire, two out of three he argued with ended up voting for him. He would say to me: 'I'm just going to work as hard as I can. He's been working insanely hard."
His aides talk about "McCain moments," when their man's honesty and bravery in the face of criticism win over new supporters. Senior adviser Charlie Black recalled one such occasion on September 5, when Mr McCain touted his prophetic support for the surge strategy in Iraq and walked to the front of the stage to tell a young woman that her brother's death in Baghdad would not be in vain.
With polls showing that he can beat both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the general election, it is his national security credentials that will be centre stage.
"I eagerly await that discussion," he said in during an impromptu press huddle, midair between campaign events in St Louis and Chicago on Friday. "It will be a difference between victory and surrender."
He criticised both Democrats for wanting to pull the troops out of Iraq. "It's a product of inexperience because anyone who knows military strategy knows that if you decide that you're withdrawing, the enemy wins.
"They teach that in your first year at West Point." He told the crowd in Chicago: "I don't care who it is, I'm going to beat either one of them like a drum."
Mr McCain also told The Sunday Telegraph that his experience of dealing with European leaders will help bridge an Atlantic Ocean that seems wider after disagreements over Iraq with the Bush administration.
He said: "I know every leader in Europe. I've worked with them. I know the importance of the relationship with the Atlantic community and I will be doing everything that I can to make sure that we all work together. We've got significant challenges, particularly in Afghanistan."
The most striking thing about camp McCain is the unusual personal devotion of his inner circle. Friend and adviser Steve Dupree said: "Most of his top team work for free, not because we haven't got the money but because we love the guy."
Fresh from an appearance on the Jay Leno show and a Hollywood fundraiser, the senator found time to drop into a birthday drinks party at the Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills on Thursday for Brooke Buchanan, his 27-year-old "body woman" and press handler, taking time to shake hands with every reporter present.
This desire to stay close to the people is now under threat by his status as presumptive nominee. McCain aides are fending off calls from the US Secret Service to introduce personal protection.
One aide described watching Mr McCain "bouncing around" in irritation as police at one event last week tried to move the public away from the entrance.
The other thing that is apparent is the deep loathing many feel for Mr Romney, who McCain aides calculate has now poured more than $50 million of his own money into the campaign.
Mr Romney's final gambit has been to stir up opposition from conservative Republicans, who see Mr McCain as a heretic on immigration controls, campaign finance and as a late convert to George W.Bush's tax cuts.
Mr Romney has been egged on by talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh who declared last week that Mr McCain would "destroy the Republican Party", and professional controversialist Anne Coulter, who said she would rather vote for Hillary Clinton.
Conservative webmaster Matt Drudge, who broke the Monica Lewinsky story, then posted claims by a senior Democrat that Mr McCain nearly defected in 2001, something he dismisses as a "joke".
"I think that in the last few days the only thing they haven't tried to hit me with is the kitchen sink," Mr McCain said on Friday.
But his friends are enraged by the treatment. One revealed: "We maybe didn't realise quickly enough that some of these people think he's Satan incarnate."
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told The Sunday Telegraph: "The real debate is: who is the most electable, reliable conservative that we can send into the arena? It is a battle for the future of the party."
The endorsement they really want is Mrs Reagan's. But she, for now at least, will not speak publicly of her warm feelings for Mr McCain.
One supporter Mr McCain has announced is conservative legal icon and former solicitor general Ted Olsen. Condemning the conservative criticisms, Mr Olsen said: "What I think John McCain will do is what he has always done in his life. He will be John McCain."
Win or lose on Tuesday, that is the one sure bet.
Are those anything like "senior moments"?
“Not often do I ask for divine intercession, but I have asked for that, yes,” he told reporters on his campaign jet. “From what we see in the polls, I think there’s a very good chance it could be over on Tuesday.”
Wait a minute. McCain and Huckabee are praying the same prayer. Poor God. They are giving Him a headache.
Meanwhile . . . go, Mitt!!
Probably so....
Counting his chickens before they hatch, I’d say.
Hey John Boy!....better take a look at what happened in Maine!
Every single political poll shows the country is hugely angry at the political class. Never have approval ratings been this low this long for everyone from the President to the least member of Congress.
So what is the “brilliant” GOP’s Establishment plan to compete in such a hostile political environment? Run an old, politically corrupt, broke 25 year DC Insider who more then half their political base mistrusts!
They will be lucky if they take 10 states in Nov.
This guy ahould be in a straight jacket, not running for POTUS.
He’s confident. He’s confident that the ‘fix’ is in. As always, spitting in the face of the citizens.
“Not often do I ask for divine intercession, but I have asked for that, yes,” he told reporters on his campaign jet. “From what we see in the polls, I think there’s a very good chance it could be over on Tuesday.”
So have I, John. And there’s is a very good chance you may not be the nominee on Tuesday, if America conservatives vote against you.
ping
Wait just a minute, I thought those people who pray are "agents of intolerance". He said so in the 2000 primary in SC.
Who knew: John McCain, an "agent of intolerance"
Johnny McCain will have to get to the W.H. without my conservative vote
Not anyone YOU'd associate with, Goob...
“And a whole lot of luck. That’s why I am superstitious. That’s why I carry this penny around,” he said brandishing a dull brown coin from his trouser pocket.
What he really needs is HUCK. Without Huck, he’s toast.
mccain is a selfish old #%$@#$@#%
It will give me great pleasure to watch his concession speech in November.
I’d rather piss on a spark plug.
This conservative will walk rather than cost a vote for this B.Arnold. Never,Ever for McCain!
Come on... I hate McCain, but I will not celebrate his defeat in Nov either. That should be a sad day for America.
“They will be lucky if they take 10 states in Nov.”
You think so? That many?
The good news, to the extent there is any to be found about this election, is that we will probably get a viable (conservative) third party as a result.
It’s about time.
McCain and Huckabee are praying the exact same prayer but for themselves. What will God do? Maybe God will speak to one of them in the whirlwind to step aside.
Meanwhile . . . go, Mitt!
There’s still a chance he makes it in April.
What a pridefull attitude.
“Pride come before distruction”
McCain has also said he assumes he will be the Republican nominee. What arrogance, to make that assumption already!
Romney 52%
McCain 21%
Paul 19%
Huckabee 6%
Undecided 2%
That's a 31 point lead for Romney. McCain may still lose to Paul and that would be a real knock on McCain...which IMHO is well deserved.
so perhaps it is not so cast in concrete for McCain at all. I hope and pray not.
“Come on... I hate McCain, but I will not celebrate his defeat in Nov either. That should be a sad day for America.”
We’ll likely get a third party out of this mess. Four or eight years under Sen. Obama or Clinton will stink, but conservatives will emerge with something they don’t have now: a conservative political party to vote for.
I think your post is spot on.
Exactly!
The good news, to the extent there is any to be found about this election, is that we will probably get a viable (conservative) third party as a result.
-
highly unlikely by the time of the general but while Rome wasn’t built in a day, it’s now a pretty cool place. However, 3rd parties do have a reputation for attracting the kooky side...
That, my friend, is the only good thing that I see coming from this Republican cast of misfits—A Conservative party!
Peggy Noonon was right,GWBush destroyed the Republican party! The man wasn’t ready to lead a group of cub-scouts!
>>His aides talk about “McCain moments...”
Are those anything like “senior moments”<<
If he had good sense and good handlers he’d shut the hell up and stop gloating where reporters can hear.
He’s a barely a acceptable candidate to many without the gloating and threatening that he has been reported all day.
He’s gonna remind people of the temperament issue and bring it to the fore front.
I’m not convinced that there will be enough conservatives rally for the new party. There are different kinds of conservatives (social, economic, patriotic, and so on). Some will join the new party, the others will not. If conservatives today cannot rally behind one candidate, what hope do you think they will rally behind 3rd party candidates (for 08 or beyond)?
Up yer McCain.
“The good news, to the extent there is any to be found about this election, is that we will probably get a viable (conservative) third party as a result.”
We have at least ONE now, that exactly NO ONE pays any attention too. It’s called the Constitution Party and if McAmnesty is nominated, I would hope to see the ranks of that party swollen with pi**ed off former Republicans.
.
When future Sen. McCAIN was busy being a prisioner of war in Hanoi, Communist North Vietnam...
future Sen. KERRY was busy doing all he could here in America to insure a Communist North Vietnam terrorist victory over a then Free South Vietnam.
With Sen. McCAIN’s full Congressional backing now,
Sen. KERRY / Communist Vietnamese Killing Off Christians in Central Highlands...
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/675016/posts
.
NEVER FORGET
.
McCain will be the nominee. I have not been and am not now a McCain supporter. I just worked the numbers and looked at the polls. He won’t sew it up on Super Tuesday, but he’ll be close enough to get the remainder prior to the end of primary season.
It’s time to get used to it.
Intriguingly, his father and grandfather were admirals. He is a decorated naval aviator with military experience in a time of war.
He has a pro-life voting record with a falter at one point that I’ve so far seen. He’s absolutely right on extending the tax cuts.
He was dead wrong on Feingold, Amnesty, and Keating. He’s pro-gun with a falter on so-called assault weapons. (I think that’s McCain....could be Romney.) He’s right on gay marriage and wrong on the Marriage Amendment. He was wrong to squabble with the religious right, and he was right to try to kiss and make up.
He says now that he’ll build the fence. I support that.
My take is that he’s the nominee, and despite Limbaugh, Coulter, and the rest, I can support him. He’s no worse than Romney, and he’s better for this time.
With his military background and family tradition, perhaps this is his moment in time.
Anybody have one of those kitchen sinks?
I hope McCain is counting his liberals before they vote.
No puedo apoyar Romney.
Because none of the present group of misfits and castoffs are CONSERVATIVE!! You need a Conservative to lead a Conservative party !
ditto that
I think what would have been if Gore or Kerry had won.
United We Stand Divided We Fall is so darn true!
The GOP has become infected with the RINOvirus. It’s going to be an ugly election.
McLame is sure about a lot of things, most of them, wrong.
He’s gonna take a very long, hard fall.
As I told a buddy of mine, going to CPAC, covering it for Blogtalkradio, McCain is going, not to win over conservatives. He’s going the day after super tuesday to have his ring kissed. He’s there for what he perceives is his coronation by conservatives.
He’ll be disappointed. He’s going to get a giant “gesture” from the crowd
You heard it here first, mark the date.
He can kiss my royal white Irish butt.
Whoaa! don’t sugar coat it. Tell us how you really feel.
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