We reported Friday on Sen. John McCain's plans to spend three days in Ohio campaigning for at-risk incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine. McCain's busy summer schedule isn't going unnoticed by others, either. Jim Tankersley of The Toledo Blade interviewed the Arizona Senator:
In the course of an interview, Mr. McCain mimicked the DeWine campaign talking points on Mr. DeWine's record, criticized Republicans and Democrats for politicizing last week's terrorism-related arrests in London, worried that Republicans could lose both houses of Congress this fall, and said there may be a day when moderates shunned in Democratic and Republican primaries form a third party.
He also sounded like a 2008 candidate, noting at one point: "My numbers have never been higher." Highlights from the interview:Q: This seems like a difficult year to run on a congressional record, when so many people are mad at Congress overall. Do you worry about that, for Senator DeWine and others?
A: I worry about an anti-incumbency mood in the country, but I believe that voters in Ohio will look at his record, which is of consistent bipartisanship where bipartisanship is called for.
Q: You endorsed U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz (R., Mich.) this month. We saw him lose to a (more conservative) primary challenger. And we saw Sen. Joe Lieberman (D., Conn.) lose to a (more liberal) primary challenger. Is that about incumbency, or is that about both parties being sort of dissatisfied with moderates?
A: I think that to some degree, it has a local flavor. In Joe Schwartz's case, he was painted as a liberal. ... In the case of Joe Lieberman, it was clearly an anti-Iraq war, not so much anti-incumbency, but anti-war in Iraq, anti-Bush sentiment that was manifested.
Read the whole interview and the rest of Tankersley's report at the link above.
McCain is certainly acting like a Presidential candidate. Even the standard demurrals are halfhearted now. And there is hardly a better way for a nationally-known politician to endear himself to other office-holders and office-seekers by lending his name and fame to campaign and raise money for them. Even those who lose won't forget it. In the meantime, the voting populations of all these key states get to see McCain treated as a visiting dignitary, enhancing his stature for 2008.
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Filed under:
2006 Senate Race, 2008 Presidential Race, McCain, Ohio
