Perhaps McCain Does Have A Chance
Posted on October 16, 2008
I am by nature an optimist. To a fault. I always think the White Sox will win the World Series, that Notre Dame will get a national championship in Football, that Marquette will win the NCAA tournament, and that Republicans will do well in November.
And I have always held out hope that McCain would win against Obama.
But my optimism has been under steady assault lately. I have talked to my colleagues in Washington. They all think this race is over. I have talked to my friends in the media. They think McCain is finished. I talk to my family in Illinois. Obama has already won it.
In fact, this afternoon, I talked to Frank Davies of the San Jose Mercury News, and this assault on my sense of optimism had already started to seep in. I blurted out to Frank: "It's almost too late for John McCain now. He made some serious mistakes, and he was just blown away by this financial tsunami."
I was not on message. Sorry guys.
But I am trying my hardest to get back on message. I have seen some signs that give me hope.
Drudge has the latest tracking poll from Gallup and it shows that McCain is only down 2, using its traditional polling methods. I am a traditional kind of guy, so that is good enough for me.
I then watched McCain’s performance at the Al Smith Dinner, and was wistful about the John McCain who could show a sense of humor and actually make fun of himself. This is the real John McCain, who would beat Obama by ten points. Maybe this McCain will make a reappearance in the final couple of weeks.
And I started thinking about Joe the Plumber. The Democrats (and their friends in the media) have launched an all-out assault on that poor guy from Toledo, Ohio.
They pointed out how he owed some money in back-taxes. (So what?)
They claimed that he didn’t make more than $250,000. (My point to that is: don’t you think he wants to? Isn’t that the American dream? Work hard and keep what you make, without getting punished by the tax code?)
And they are drudging up all kind of other rumors about that plumber named Joe.
The Obama cohorts did their best to destroy the reputation of poor old Joe. And guess what? It will backfire.
Joe is exactly the kind of guy that makes American great. He fixes things. He makes life better. He contributes to society. He is not about Wall Street. He is about Main Street. He is everyman.
And what does the media do to everyman? Do they celebrate him? Nope, they try to tear him down.
Joe is a symbol for all that is good about America, and the same media that is in the tank for Barack Obama is now on the hunt for Joe the Plumber.
Joe doesn’t just dislike Obama’s taxes. He dislikes those people who want to see America fail in Iraq. He dislikes those left-wing liberals who hate America, who blame America first, who try to apologize for America.
He is a symbol of the great middle of American society. He is the blue-collar guy who wants his kids to have a better future. And he might just be a sign that the McCain campaign can turn this thing around after all.
Let us hope.