OK, no problem, let's take your hypothetical that McCain loses 100,000 votes, he may gain 200,000 from the 98% who doesn't regulary listen to Cunningham religiously, and also took away a talking point from obama that McCain panders to talk radio, in which 90% of the American population doesn't listen to regulary.
I live here. It’s a split state. McCain won’t get democratic votes. Therefore, he can’t afford to throw away conservative votes.
The truth is that no one around here would have cared about Cunningham using Obama’s middle name. Not one soul. For one thing, there’s nothing wrong with using someone’s real middle name. For another, Cunningham is a hometown favorite, everyone knows his style, and they like him. I’d say that market research must show that, because he is spokesperson for a HUGE number of companies who use him in their advertisements....everything from cars to windows to potato chips.