Michael Barone uses his latest U.S. News column to explain that Democrats and Republicans are both trying to put forward arguments or “themes” that will help carry them through Election Day.
One of the themes hammered home at Barack Obama’s convention was McCain
equals Bush. That never struck me as sustainable and was pretty well
demolished on the first full day of McCain’s convention. Neither Obama
nor McCain is a generic candidate; they are distinctive individuals, to
whose specific characteristics voters respond, positively or
negatively. The Republican convention’s premise is that McCain is the
maverick reformer?an American version of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, who
replaced an unpopular president of his own party. There is plenty in
McCain’s record to back that up. Not least is his selection of Sarah
Palin for vice president.
You can hear Barone’s up-to-the-minute take on the campaign during his Sept. 24 John Locke Foundation Headliner appearance in Winston-Salem.
