The Daily Background

Looking back on the expectations that everybody had for the 2008 presidential race, at least on the Republican side, there seemed to be almost a nominee-apparent: John McCain. He was well-positioned with the highest poll numbers among the GOP rivals, and had the greatest amount of infrastructure of anybody.

Six months later, it’s now emerging that McCain is struggling to even stay in the race. His 1st Quarter fundraising numbers were way below that of other frontrunners, despite the fact that he spent most of his time on the campaign trail (and missing scores of crucial Senate votes as a result).

Apparently in the new Evans-Novak report, McCain is described as hanging on by a thread:

While Sen. John McCain claims that everything is ‘fine’ in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, events strongly suggest otherwise. The former frontrunner is now in deep trouble. With respect to the positive signs a presidential campaign can point to at this early stage — fundraising, national polls, state polls, endorsements — McCain finds himself almost empty-handed.”

[… McCain] is setting extremely low expectations by saying simply that he will raise more than that amount in the current quarter… Such a take would be woefully insufficient for him to continue in earnest, perhaps leaving him with one fourth (or less) of the cash on hand of his top competitors.

So, what has taken a toll on McCain’s campaign? I’d guess it’s at least partially because of the war in Iraq. He’s the only major Republican candidate who’s embraced the war and the President’s war policy specifically. And now he’s getting battered by conservatives on the issue of immigration, where he also sides with the Bush.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog