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McCain's Bush challenge

James Forsyth

Saturday, 5th July 2008

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 night of the convention, a Monday, and that a joint appearance by the two men is unlikely. Presumably, the plan is that Bush will speak before McCain arrives— McCain will probably be on a tour of swing states with his running mate who he is expected to name on the previous Friday and only arrive in St. Paul later in the week.

It will be fascinating to see whether Bush’s speech is an extended endorsement of McCain or a set of remarks on his presidency. Considering how eager Bush has shown himself to help the McCain campaign, we can be sure that he which one he delivers will be determined by what is most helpful for the McCain campaign.

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TGF UKIP

July 6th, 2008 1:09pm

I would caution against assuming there is that degree of toxicity attaching to GW. We should be only too well aware in this country of the herd factor in the polls.

My instinct is that just as the Tories always did better in actual elections than they polled beforehand, so would Bush be far better treated in the secrecy of the ballot box than he is in these "approval ratings."