I'll Take Either of Ours Over Either of Their's
Wednesday, February 16, 2000
The CNN debate last night was pretty good. Except that, for the first third of the program, Larry King wanted to run it the way he runs his regular weeknight show, rather than letting the candidates have at it. As the show moved on, King became more comfortable in letting the conversation flow.
Alan Keyes is passionate about those things in which he believes. But the only reason he is staying in this campaign is because he gets to participate in events like last night's. If Keyes were not in the debates he would have no reason to stay in the campaign.
The debate was a draw. Both John S McCain and George W Bush got in the points they wanted to make and neither landed a clean punch, although McCain's "grownup" line was a whiff. If the polls are correct and Bush is leading in South Carolina, then McCain needed to do more than get a draw.
The State of South Carolina owes John S McCain a huge vote of thanks. If he had not won his big victory in New Hampshire there would not have been a tenth of the money spent on printing, phone calls, television ads, radio ads, buses, cars, hotels, or meals.
In about 72 hours the voters of South Carolina will probably cause another huge upheaval in the contest for the Republican nomination for President. If McCain wins, it will put Bush in the very difficult position of having to defend losing two straight in head-to-head campaigns. If Bush wins, he gets to claim he has won three out of the first four legitimate elections - Iowa, Delaware, and South Carolina.
A McCain win in South Carolina will almost guarantee a victory for him in Michigan. A Bush win in South Carolina will probably cause McCain's money to slow dramatically which, in turn, would put his March 7th strategy in great jeopardy.
Bush is pressing his advantage among Republican voters by pointing out that Democrats should not be choosing the nominee of the GOP. If Republicans get up on their hind legs about that, they might turn out in really large numbers on Saturday.
McCain's strength comes from staying in for as long has he can. As one McCain supporter told me yesterday, two months ago, no one outside Washington, DC and Arizona even knew who John McCain was. The longer he stays in the race, the more people hear about him, and the better he will do among Republicans - while maintaining his attraction to independents and Democrats.
Meanwhile, Al Gore and Bill Bradley are jumping up and down with their noses pressed against the glass trying to get attention for their campaigns. Bradley got an unofficial endorsement from the Teamsters yesterday which is the first crack in the union-constructed wall surrounding Gore.
If Al Gore invented the internet doesn't he have at least some responsibly for the invention of hacking?
Here's a shocker: The AP is reporting that the Clinton White House obstructed justice. According to a wire story which moved last night, "A former White House computer analyst alleged Tuesday that the Clinton administration failed to produce thousands of e-mails related to Monica Lewinksy, campaign finance and other issues that were the subjects of federal probes." Oh, Hillary?
As a reminder, The Mullmobile will be rolling toward beautiful downtown South Carolina today. Mullings will be reporting from the Palmetto State on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
-- END --
Home | Secret Decoder Ring | Past Issues | Email Rich | Rich Who?
Copyright �2000 Richard A. Galen | Site design by Campaign Solutions.
|
