Missed Opportunity for Maverickiness
(updated below -- McCain belatedly takes the opportunity)
I must say I'm surprised by the lack of response from the McCain campaign to the Stevens conviction. Sarah Palin issued a somewhat ambiguous statement about the conviction and McCain himself, as far as I can tell, has said nothing. It seems to me that's a real missed opportunity. Both McCain and Palin style themselves as maverick reformers who are willing to stick it to the their own party. McCain has had a long and contentious relationship with Stevens; there's no love lost there. And much of Palin's carefully crafted image revolves around her supposed willingness to fight the corrupt GOP establishment in Alaska.
So why the reluctance to criticize a man who is now a convicted felon? Why not call for him to step down? Isn't that a no brainer? Stevens is going to lose anyway and the McCain/Palin campaign is desperate for some good media coverage. This is right in their wheelhouse.
And yet they're not swinging. They don't even seem to have anything much to say. It's as if this outcome came as a surprise to the campaign. Didn't they notice that the jury had been deliberating for the last week? Didn't it occur to anyone that Stevens might get convicted?
Any competent campaign would have anticipated this outcome and known that it would dominate at least one news cycle (of which there are only a precious handful left). Any competent campaign would have had a contingency plan ready to try to spin that news in a way that is favorable to the campaign, especially given the close relationship between Stevens and a member of the ticket. This is yet more political malpractice on the part of the McCain campaign.
UPDATE: Well, it took a day, but McCain has now called for Stevens to resign. Why they didn't have this response ready to go yesterday is beyond me, but I guess they eventually realized they weren't being very mavericky.
I must say I'm surprised by the lack of response from the McCain campaign to the Stevens conviction. Sarah Palin issued a somewhat ambiguous statement about the conviction and McCain himself, as far as I can tell, has said nothing. It seems to me that's a real missed opportunity. Both McCain and Palin style themselves as maverick reformers who are willing to stick it to the their own party. McCain has had a long and contentious relationship with Stevens; there's no love lost there. And much of Palin's carefully crafted image revolves around her supposed willingness to fight the corrupt GOP establishment in Alaska.
So why the reluctance to criticize a man who is now a convicted felon? Why not call for him to step down? Isn't that a no brainer? Stevens is going to lose anyway and the McCain/Palin campaign is desperate for some good media coverage. This is right in their wheelhouse.
And yet they're not swinging. They don't even seem to have anything much to say. It's as if this outcome came as a surprise to the campaign. Didn't they notice that the jury had been deliberating for the last week? Didn't it occur to anyone that Stevens might get convicted?
Any competent campaign would have anticipated this outcome and known that it would dominate at least one news cycle (of which there are only a precious handful left). Any competent campaign would have had a contingency plan ready to try to spin that news in a way that is favorable to the campaign, especially given the close relationship between Stevens and a member of the ticket. This is yet more political malpractice on the part of the McCain campaign.
UPDATE: Well, it took a day, but McCain has now called for Stevens to resign. Why they didn't have this response ready to go yesterday is beyond me, but I guess they eventually realized they weren't being very mavericky.
posted by A.L. at 8:38 PM
8 Comments:
Didn't Stevens endorse Palin for guv a scant 20 months ago?
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/29/1305615.aspx
Good point. The silence of McCain and Palin is pretty deafening.
Palin needs a second term as Governor to round off her political credentials. I am sure that Stevens still has influence and power among Alaskan Republicans, so she has to be cautious.
If she cut him loose, and (suppose) his conviction was overturned on appeal, she would be pretty embarrassed in front of her political base in the state, some of which she no doubt shares with him.
The word has been circulating that Palin is in "rogue" mode, and keeping an eye out for her Presidential chances in 2012. However, she will need a political safety-net in Alaska when the expected defeat happens this time out.
Bottom Line: Her "Maverickness" at the moment is directed towards John McCain, her running mate, not towards a convicted corrupt politician from her home State. Stevens can still be of more use to her than a failed Presidential candidate. Nothing personal in choosing between two men who have helped her career, I am sure, just a political calculation.
Colin Powell testifies Stevens' word is 'sterling'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell testified in Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial Friday, saying the Republican from Alaska has a "sterling" character.
"He was a trusted individual whose word you could rely on," said Powell, a retired four-star Army general who spent about 40 years in public service.
How interesting. That shed a new light on Powell's endorsement of Obama, doesn't it?
I don't remember any kind of dissertation from Obama or Biden when Tony Rezko and Kwame Kilpatrick were convicted of their crimes.
I don't know AL, I usually agree with most of what you wirte but it is hard for me to see how the McCain campaign could have made much of the conviction. I can't quite imagine very many voters thinking something like - "Gee, I had been leaning towards that Obama guy but now that McCain has come down against that convicted felon for Alaska, I believe I will vote for him; what a maverick."
AL, I know this is off topic but I wanted to get back to you on my comment from a few days ago about VA early voting (and I know you read the comments, not sure if you read all your emails). The percentage of early voters is a little more than I thought but it's still not huge--here is the report from SurveyUSA as of yesterday regarding Virginia: "Nine percent of respondents have already voted, giving Obama a 67%-30% majority, and he's ahead 50%-44% among the remaining 91% of likely voters."
My guess would be that the McCain-Palin campaign has such huge problems and internal discord that they can hardly think about Stevens. His name just draws attention to the sordid history of Alaska Republicans. Given the perfunctory way McCain called for Chris Cox to be fired as SEC head, maybe this time he decided to think for a day before calling for Stevens to resign. It's hard to see how they gain or lose anything from it at this late juncture.
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