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A Comedian for President
// John McCain Joins the Presidential Race, Joking All the Way
The race to win the White House in 2008 is heating up in the United States. Yesterday John McCain, a well-known Republican senator from Arizona, announced informally that he intends to enter the presidential race. In terms of popularity, Senator McCain runs a close second to former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani in the race to represent the Republican Party in next year's elections, and although he is reckoned to have a fairly small chance at victory, his participation will spice things up in the campaign to become the next US president. Senator McCain is a staunch ally of President Bush and is considered the candidate from the Republican establishment.
Time to Play the Game
Mr. McCain's informal statement announcing his presidential ambitions, which the 70-year-old Republican veteran made on the popular television show Late Night with David Letterman, was deliberately light-hearted. In a laid-back conversation with Mr. Letterman, Senator McCain unexpectedly let it slip that he intends to take a stab at winning a seat in the Oval Office in 2008. "I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States," said Mr. McCain. While Mr. Letterman acted surprised, Mr. McCain trotted out his improvisation abilities, assuring his host that he will make an official announcement in April and joking with a laugh that "you drag this out as long as you can. You don't have just one rendition, you've got to do it over and over."
Asked whether he would consent to run as the vice president on the Republican ticket, Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war in North Vietnam, repeated the answer that he gave three years ago during the 2004 campaign, but this time he added a humorous twist: "[In 2004 someone] said, 'Well, what's this about you being vice president of the United States?', he told David Letterman. "I said, 'You know, I spent all those years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, kept in the dark, being fed scraps – why the heck would I want to do that all over again?'" It appears that only the top job will suit Mr. McCain.
In the wake of Mr. McCain's appearance on the Letterman show, his assistants scrambled to assure the American press that his statements were not scripted and that the infamously sharp-tongued senator had improvised them on the spot.
Observers in Washington are quick to note that John McCain is not the first American politician to co-opt popular family television for serious political announcements, a strategy that allows politicians like Mr. McCain to quickly reach a large audience. Others who have availed themselves of this option include California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the state's 2003 gubernatorial race and Senator John Edwards, who ran as Senator John Kerry's vice president on the Democratic ticket in 2004. In 1992, the billionaire Ross Perot threw his hat into the ring as the Independent presidential candidate on CNN's Larry King Live.
Analysts also point out that Mr. McCain's informal announcement is emblematic of another curious characteristic of the pre-2008 election campaign, namely, the lengthy process of announcing one's presidential ambitions and intent to run, during which the candidates use any means at their disposal to remind the voters as often as possible of their participation in the race.
Catching and Overtaking Giuliani
Senator McCain's announcement came as no surprise to anyone even cursorily acquainted with American politics. In November of last year, Mr. McCain registered his official presidential exploratory committee in preparation for making a run for office in 2008. That allowed him to begin fundraising for his campaign and to set off on travels around the country to gauge to mood of the electorate. If the creation of an exploratory committee is taken as the yardstick of progress in a presidential campaign, then Mr. McCain joined the fray even before the current Republican frontrunner, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who announced his candidacy last month.
This is not the first month that political observers in Washington have amused themselves by "weighting" each potential candidate for the post of president of the United States. In the Democratic camp, the battle is currently between Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York, and Barack Obama, an African-American senator from Illinois who is a rising star among the Democrats. The torch for the Republicans is carried by Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, trailed by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in third place.
In January, public opinion polls showed Rudy Giuliani with 28-34% of the potential Republican vote, while John McCain was close behind with 20-29%. In the last week, however, Mr. Giuliani has pulled ahead sharply: he is now garnering support from 44% of Republican respondents, compared to Mr. McCain's 21%.
Observers in Washington predict that Senator McCain may suffer the same fate in 2008 as he did in 2000, when he lost to George Bush in the struggle for the right to represent the Republican Party in the elections. Those who hold this view maintain that Mr. McCain's place is on Capitol Hill – but in the Congress, not in the Oval Office
Nevertheless, no matter how well-founded this appraisal is, it may be somewhat premature, and not only because American presidential campaigns are well-known for their capacity to constantly prove surprising. Despite Mr. Giuliani's enormous popularity, analysts do not rule out the possibility that this pro-abortion, thrice-married supporter of gay rights and gun control could founder on obstacles thrown up by his traditionally strongly conservative party. That could give Senator McCain the opportunity that he needs to catch and overtake Mr. Giuliani.
The President's Last Soldier
By all accounts, Mr. McCain understands perfectly what his main rival's Achilles heel may turn out to be, and he is positioning himself accordingly as a "common-sense conservative." According to the design of his campaign staff, Senator McCain's moderate conservatism will enable him to lure voters away from Mr. Giuliani's camp and to attract support from Republicans disillusioned by the slim chance of success faced by ultraconservative Mitt Romney. By personifying the center position, Mr. McCain may be able to unite the left and right wings of the conservative party.
Thus, while all of this is just speculation for now, it is too early to write off John McCain. In particular, he may yet attract votes from fervent supporters of President Bush as they begin to consider who should be their next Republican candidate. Mr. McCain, unlike the majority of his colleagues in the Senate, continues to support the campaign in Iraq and is also a stronger advocate even than President Bush for significantly increasing the number of American troops stationed in the country. By resisting the increasing trend among Republicans to desert to the Democratic camp in protest against the Iraq war, Senator McCain is on track to be the lone candidate from the ruling party who actually represents the position of the American establishment, and he will undoubtedly be able to count on its support for his campaign.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 02, 2007
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