McCain's Bush challenge

One of the trickiest questions for the McCain campaign is what to do with George W. Bush at the party’s convention. The Democrats are eagerly trying to portray a vote for McCain as a vote for a Bush third term, a toxic charge given that Bush’s approval rating is only 30 percent. But at the same time, Bush remains popular with the parts of the Republican base that are least enthusiastic about McCain so they can’t cut him off completely.

The New York Times reports that Bush will speak at the opening...

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A political engagement?

Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida who is widely tipped as a possible VP pick for McCain, has announced his engagement to his girlfriend, Carole Rome. It was expected after Crist told The New York Times to “Stay tuned” when it inquired about his marital status.

The timing of the announcement is bound to raise suspicions that it is a political engagement. Many pundits were sceptical about how a single running mate would play on the national stage. There were also various rumours about Crist’s private life.

Crist and his fiancée are talking about a wedding in...

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Will Powell endorse Obama?

There's been a lot of buzz about the possibility of former Secretary of State Colin Powell swinging behind Obama. But so far, Powell--who is friends with McCain and donated to his primary campaign--has stayed neutral. The news that Powell and Obama met recently sparked off another round of speculation. But it turns out that Powell and McCain also sat down recently. Still, Bob Novak, the veteran US political reporter, says that Powell endorsing Obama is virtually a "sure thing".  If he's right, that's a big blow to McCain as Powell not backing his friend would help the Democrats make the case...

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Sergeant Schmidt gets a promotion

Jonathan Martin reports that Steve Schmidt is going to take over day to day management of the McCain campaign. Schmidt is a formidable political operative who worked for the Bush-Cheney re-elect and helped rescue Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political career. With him in day to day charge, the McCain campaign should cut out most of the sloppy errors that have from time to time undercut McCain’s message. Schmidt is also bringing on board a bunch of his former colleagues who should help professionalize the campaign.

The political environment in which McCain is running...

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The shape of the race to come

One of Barack Obama’s big advantages right now is his ability to command the news agenda almost at will. The historic nature of his candidacy, his newness and the drama of the Democratic primary contest means has given Obama a distinct edge on this front. Last week, he received twice as much media coverage as McCain thanks in part to his Unity event...

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