After a week of economic turmoil and his damaging remark on Monday that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” Senator McCain aggressively sought to regain his footing. Battling to distance himself from the Bush administration and blame for the economic instability, Mr. McCain also called for the firing of SEC chief Christopher Cox.
Sarah Palin has spent most of this month out of state, campaigning with Senator McCain, and has endorsed neither Senator Stevens nor his opponent. But that has not stopped both candidates from trying to benefit from her enormous popularity in Alaska, which has only grown since she joined the McCain ticket.
As John McCain worked his way through Florida and Ohio this week as the Republican presidential nominee, he was a candidate transformed. He unsmilingly raced through a series of relatively brief speeches, reading often from a teleprompter, and served up a diet of the kind of sound-bite attacks that he used to dismiss with an eye roll.
In a reversal of position, a key Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday he may convene the committee that is conducting the investigation into whether Palin dismissed her public safety commissioner when he would not fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with her sister. This may be the first move in a push to delay the probe.
No Democratic presidential candidate has won Virginia since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and the selection of Sarah Palin has improved Mr. McCain’s chances of carrying the state. Even so, Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, still clearly sees an opportunity here, and has opened more than 41 offices in the state.
Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies.
With economic conditions worsening over the course of this year and voter anxiety on the rise, Senator McCain has had to labor to get past the impression — fostered by his own admissions that the subject is not his strongest suit — that he lacks the experience and understanding to address the nation’s economic woes.
Senator Obama originally built his campaign on his opposition to the Iraq war, but his message has shifted to the economy. The question remains whether Mr. Obama can define his candidacy around the economy, as other Democrats have done, and be seen as connecting with the struggles of Americans.
Once a reliable Democratic voting bloc, Catholics have emerged as a pivotal swing vote in recent presidential races. Evenly divided in a poll over the summer, Catholics make up about a quarter of the national electorate and about a third in the pivotal battleground states of Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
As the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin points to her management experience while deriding her Democratic rivals. But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.