McCain's Commander in Chief advantage
James Forsyth 11:34am
Barack Obama holds most of the aces in this presidential campaign. His supporters are more enthusiastic than McCain's, he is out fund raising his opponent and he can control the news agenda almost at will. But McCain still has one significant advantage that is keeping him in with a chance: Americans are far more comfortable with him as Commander in Chief than Obama.
The numbers from the latest ABC / Washington Post poll illustrate just how sizable McCain’s advantage is on this front:
To be sure, Obama has a chance to close this gap during the campaign. Being seen in a variety of Commander in Chief settings is going to make him look like a more plausible president. Also, the current financial crisis suggests that the economy not national security might dominate the campaign in the final weeks and most of this cycle’s key swing sates are beset by economic problem. But McCain’s Commander in Chief advantage does suggest McCain will be in with a real chance of pulling off an upset if Obama is not out of sight after the convention season.Would McCain be a good Commander in Chief? Yes: 72%Would Obama? Yes: 48%
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Comments
RMH
July 15th, 2008 12:05pmUntil they see him get narked on national TV. And then wonder if they really want someone with a temper problem on the nuke button....
Prentia Clove
July 15th, 2008 12:21pmThe worst Commander-in-chief in recent years was Carter - a career navy man, closely followed by Kennedy - a wartime navy man and Nixon - also a wartime navy man. To assume that McCain would be a good C-in-C because he has actually been in the armed forces is illogical. Arguably, the C-in-C should never have served, thus providing a strong buffer against excessive military zeal. The Consitution explicitly gives control of the armed forces to a civilian for a very good reason.
Verity
July 15th, 2008 12:54pmObama supporters are finding that the novelty is wearing off fast and they're beginning to see him for what he is: an empty suit; a phony and an old style Chicago machine politician. He's in his mid-forties and he's never done anything in his life except run for office.
And he is chillingly ignorant about the world. After 9/11, he wrote an article for his local paper saying it was motivated by "an empathy problem" and we need to empathise with these poor, needy people who did this. He is so stupid and insular that he didn't know that Osama bin Laden's father was one of the richest men in the world, and that all the bombers came from money and the successful professional class.
The thought of Obama as Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful armed forces on earth is chilling. He'd make Jimmy Carter look like Winston Churchill.
Craig Strachan
July 15th, 2008 4:15pmYes, we really need a C-in-C who sings "Bomb-Bomb-Bomb, Bomb-Bomb-Iran" and makes jokes about how exporting cigarettes to Iran is a way off killin' a few of 'em off.
That's some seasoned judgment, right there.
Familiar Clown
July 15th, 2008 4:57pm"...he's never done anything in his life except run for office."
Yep, he's a self-made man and worships his creator,
JimBob
July 15th, 2008 10:54pmpatriotism, experience, integrity-McCain ticks all the boxes, but i'm not so sure about Obama
THX1138
July 15th, 2008 11:55pmI'm not convinced that getting shot down & spending the war In a Vietnamese prison camp really gives him that much more insight or experience for being C in C than Obama.
Hal
July 16th, 2008 12:32pmObama doesn't need to close the gap, he merely needs to keep the gap to a moderate size.
Water
July 16th, 2008 12:49pmhttp://mccainindependents.blogspot.com/2008/07/mccain-dominating-commander-in-chief.html