McCain's campaign manager on Obama: "So he attacks us while there's a hurricane going on..."

Amerigo Vespucci

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Mon Sep-01-08 09:48 AM
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McCain's campaign manager on Obama: "So he attacks us while there's a hurricane going on..."

McCain to Seize the Stormy Moment?
Monday, Sep. 01, 2008 By MICHAEL SCHERER / O'FALLON, MISSOURI

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837807,00.html

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in Missouri on Aug. 31
Robyn Beck / AFP

McCain's stated determination to rise above politics and partisanship may also be easier to declare than to accomplish. Before McCain arrived at the rally, which was held at a minor league ballpark, several of his surrogates offered pointed attacks on Barack Obama in an effort to fire up the crowd. The Republican Missouri Governor Matt Blunt noted that Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, were among the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate, according to one ranking. Blaine Luetkemeyer, who is running for Congress, tried to minimize Obama's energy plan. "His plan is to inflate your tires," he told the crowd. "Typical liberal response, isn't it?" A Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Kenny Hulshof, joked that Democratic Convention last week had been painful to watch. "I could only take last week watching Denver in small doses, I'll tell you that," he said.

Just hours later, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis attacked Obama for criticizing McCain and Palin. "So he attacks us while there's a hurricane going on and John McCain suspends his convention basically," Davis said in an interview with the Politico. "What bigger contrast can you have about putting your country first?"

Both McCain and Palin, meanwhile, have promised to leave politics aside. "We will put aside our political hats and put on our American hats," McCain said at the rally, while standing on a stage printed with the words, Country First. Palin tried to burnish her bonafides as a strong leader by addressing the television cameras moments later. "I'd like to add my call for every person and every family in danger to make a straight path for safer ground," she said. "Crisis on this scale can bring out the best in our country."

The McCain campaign is waiting to see the impact of the storm before planning out the rest of the week. But even if the storm damage is bad, it will not be such an easy decision for the Arizona Senator. The media is already asking questions about how much good it does to have a politician with a big security entourage and no actual connection to the afflicted region staying put there.

Whatever happens to the Gulf, however, there is no doubt that the McCain campaign will continue to use the aftermath as a way to demonstrate the candidate's superior leadership qualities. From the early primaries, McCain has run as a candidate best able to deal with a crisis, though the focus has mostly been on national security challenges. Now, in a circumstance at home he would never have chosen, he has a chance to deliver on that promise.