McCain, Romney Contrasting Campaign Strategies
February 4th, 2007 by eric
Two articles were published in the last two days which help to contrast the early styles of campainging for frontrunner John McCain, and Mitt Romney.
It begins…
Senator John McCain, intent on succeeding where his freewheeling presidential campaign of 2000 failed, is assembling a team of political bruisers for 2008. And it includes advisers who once sought to skewer him and whose work he has criticized as stepping over the line in the past. –The New York Times, February 2, 2007
It goes on to say that George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas, ran ads against McCain that “distorted his record”. McCain has hired three people from the team that created those ads.
It talks about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and how McCain thought the ads were “dishonest and dishonorable”. But McCain has hired the firm that created those ads.
In October, McCain’s top advisor expressed displeasure about an ad attacking Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., Democrat of Tennessee. McCain has hired the man behind those ads.
“This is about winning at the end of the day,†said John Weaver, Mr. McCain’s longtime senior strategist. “I don’t want to be in a knife fight ever again, but if I am, we’re going to win it.†–The New York Times, February 2, 2007
The article goes on to discuss other additions to the McCain team as he quickly gathers the heavy talent.
“It’s like an all-star World Wrestling Federation cage match, except that instead of fighting one another, all of the brawlers are on the same team,†said Steve McMahon, a strategist for the Democratic National Committee. “There are very few people who play this game at the highest level, and on the Republican side these guys are among the best.†–The New York Times, February 2, 2007
Mitt Romney’s style at least for this early period in his campaign is going to be a more traditional style that is non-confrontational. It’s somewhat defined in this interview from the article today in The National Review titled “Chatting With Governor Romney”.
Jim (Geraghty): Technically my beat at the Hillary Spot is the Democratic primary… Do you have any thoughts on the dynamics of what’s going on in the opposition party?
Gov. Romney: Well, I’m not a political pundit, I don’t make it a practice to strategize on the developments in Democratic party - or my own party, for that matter. Right now I’m focus on my own message and policy initiatives… I will say that it sure looks to me like Hillary Clinton is far and away most likely to receive nomination.
Jim: So at this time in the previous cycle, the flavor of the month was Howard Dean, Dr. “I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for” and “YEAARRRRGH.” This year, it seems to be Obama. Is this a sign that the mood of the country has shifted, that anger has been tried and rejected as a way to galvanize support?
Gov. Romney: This has been my first occasion to travel around the country, but what I have seen is that Americans want to less talk and less bickering and more progress and action. We face some extraordinary challenges as a nation - health care, our schools are falling behind the rest of the world’s, too much of our paychecks are going to taxes. Americans see that Washington bickers and points fingers, and they want to see some action and solutions. –The National Review Online, February 3, 2007
