How can McCain win undecided voters
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/30/art.mccain.flag.gi.jpg caption="How can McCain win undecided voters?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Less than 140 hours until election day when Americans will rush to the polls in what is expected to be record numbers to decide the direction of their country for the next four years.
Never has more money been spent by candidates for president to try to convince you they are the answer to America's problems. And yet after almost two years of campaigning, it is estimated that somewhere around seven percent of Americans still have not decided whether they want John McCain or Barack Obama to run things.
The differences between the two men are as pronounced as between any two candidates for the nation's highest office in a very long time. Whether he admits it or not, John McCain carries the mantle of President George W. Bush with him–seen as a continuation of the policies that have led to record low approval ratings for our current president. Americans are simply not happy with the way things are going. Yet McCain remains competitive.
Barack Obama is seen by many as a transformational figure who offers the country a chance to break with the past. His early campaign theme of change took hold with many of those Americans who are dissatisfied.
It would seem that if John McCain has any realistic chance of winning next Tuesday, he must somehow attract a large percentage of those voters who have yet to make up their mind.
Here’s my question to you: In the final few days, what can John McCain do to win over undecided voters?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How close is the White House race to being over?
This CNN Electoral Map shows Barack Obama's lead, if the Election was held today. (PHOTO CREDIT: CNN.COM)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The signs are increasingly ominous that John McCain's dream of being president is just about over. In one battleground state after another, Barack Obama's lead continues to grow. CNN's electoral map has been adjusted to suggest that if the election were held today, Barack Obama would get 291 electoral votes - it takes 270 to win - while John McCain would get just 163 - leaving 84 electoral votes up for grabs.
Barack Obama holds substantial leads in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia… all red states won by President Bush in 2004.
Obama also leads in Florida and North Carolina .
The Associated Press quotes GOP consultant Tom Rath in New Hampshire where McCain trails by double digits as saying the race is all but over, quote, "I get the sense it's shutting down," unquote.
AP also cites a senior GOP aide in Congress speaking on condition of anonymity as saying McCain advisers are now being asked by some Republican leaders to focus McCain's travel on states with close senate races… essentially abandoning his White House ambitions to help re-elect GOP Senators.
Here’s my question to you: How close is the White House race to being over?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why isn’t President Bush campaigning for McCain?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Of all the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain, here's one that could really make a difference down the home stretch: One has a president to help him and the other one does not. And at first glance, it's not what you might think.
After his appearance with Barack Obama tonight at a rally in Kissimmee, Florida, former president Bill Clinton plans to criss-cross the country on behalf of Obama in the closing days of the campaign. Tonight will mark President Clinton's first joint appearance with Obama on the campaign trail. Despite his lukewarm support at first,President Clinton as well as Hillary Clinton will campaign hard in the next few days to help Obama try to close the deal.
Watch: Cafferty: Cafferty: Bush support McCain?
But what about John McCain? He has a sitting president in his party. President Bush has been dubbed "the invisible man" when it comes to campaigning for his dear friend and fellow Republican, John McCain.
Here’s my question to you: President Clinton is campaigning for Barack Obama. Why isn't President Bush campaigning for John McCain?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
McCain vs. Obama: Who would be bigger spender?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/29/art.white.house.gi.jpg caption="McCain says Obama will be a tax and spender if he's elected."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In a last ditch effort to pick up those undecided voters, John McCain's message is focused on portraying Barack Obama as a socialist who wants to raise your taxes and redistribute your wealth.
A socialist? Really? A couple of weeks ago the government effectively nationalized some of the nation's largest banks– a plan signed into law by the current republican president, George W. Bush. A law Senator John McCain voted in favor of. Is nationalizing our banks socialism?
McCain says Obama will be a tax and spender if he's elected. Consider this: The Republican administration of John McCain's good buddy, President Bush, has doubled our national debt since 2000. Bush rewrote the definition of spending money, and McCain supported him more than 90 percent of the time.
We're fighting two wars and facing a giant financial crisis. My buddy, CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger, says in a column on CNN.com, quote: "No matter who is elected, the new president will find himself trying to figure out a way to keep some of his campaign promises without breaking the bank." Borger says in a week that means someone is going to have to start figuring out how to govern.
When Clinton left office the economy was sound, the government was running a surplus, we were at peace, and the banks were still private institutions. Then what happened. John McCain 's friend George Bush happened.
Here’s my question to you: Who would be the bigger spender in the White House: John McCain or Barack Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does McCain have to do to win?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Speaking Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Senator John McCain guaranteed a win in next Tuesday's election. He said, "We're going to win it, and it's going to be tight, and we're going to be up late." However if the polls are anywhere near accurate it was sort of a "Dewey beats Truman" moment.
In order to make good on his promise, McCain has some heavy lifting to do in a handful of battleground states. Traditional red states like Virginia and Colorado seem to be slipping away. In Pennsylvania, Obama holds a 10-point lead over McCain, 52 percent to 42 percent according to a new CNN Poll of Polls. Those numbers appear to be holding firm despite furious campaigning by Senator McCain. Obama was ahead by that same margin last week. The McCain camp has called Pennsylvania a must-win state….
McCain has made up some ground in Florida. A new CNN Poll of Polls there shows the race is tightening with Obama now holding a single point lead. Last week, Obama was up by 3 in Florida.
Watch: Cafferty: Can McCain win?
But winning Florida won't be enough. He's got to win over North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, and Nevada too. And that's a pretty tall order with just a week to go.
Here’s my question to you: What does John McCain have to do to come from behind and win?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Was Palin as VP pick a mistake?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Some of John McCain's advisers are not happy that his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin, is making a habit of going off-script and off-message with some of her comments... Most recently this weekend when she discussed her wardrobe at a rally in Florida.
So let's play "what if?"
What if John McCain had not picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate?
For one thing, the Republicans probably wouldn't have had to spend $150,000 buying clothes for the candidate.
Seriously. What if McCain had picked Mitt Romney. A self-made man with plenty of clothes and a knowledge of the economy that the current ticket is sorely lacking. And while he probably can't see Russia from his state, he could probably name at least one newspaper that he reads every day. And if he won, he probably wouldn't go to Washington in January thinking he was "in charge of the Senate."
Or what about Tom Ridge. The former Pennsylvania governor and Secretary of Homeland Security? The key to victory for McCain or Obama may well be Pennsylvania, where Obama holds a double-digit lead heading into next Tuesday. Think Tom Ridge might have helped McCain with his "Pennsylvania" problem? Besides, it would have been fun if McCain wins watching Ridge wrap the White House in clear plastic sheeting and duct tape.
Watch: Cafferty: Palin a mistake?
But McCain chose Sarah Palin who immediately became a national joke to everyone except the conservative base of the Republican party. Even some Republicans are convinced the Palin selection showed a total lack of judgment on McCain's part.
Or what about Florida governor Charlie Crist? Would winning Florida help McCain? You get the idea.
Here’s my question to you: Was it a mistake for John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
McCain on MTP: Shares philosophy with President Bush
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/27/art.gwb.mccain.gi.jpg caption="On NBC's Meet the Press, McCain said, he and the President share the same philosophy of the GOP."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Barack Obama says America is finally getting some straight talk from John McCain. Obama has long sought to tie Senator McCain to President Bush, and yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press, McCain made it easy for him when he said this about President Bush:
"Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course. But I've stood up against my party-not just President Bush, but others- and I've got the scars to prove it."
Admitting anything "in common" with our current Commander-in-Chief is probably not such a good thing for McCain. President Bush has just a 27 percent approval rating, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll out last week. Seventy-five percent of Americans say they feel bad about how things are going in the country. And over the past eight years, John McCain has supported President Bush 90 percent of the time.
Here’s my question to you: What does John McCain mean when he says he and George W. Bush share a common philosophy of the Republican Party?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Has McCain run an “honorable” campaign?
A recent CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll found 60 percent think McCain has unfairly attacked Obama. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
John McCain said this on February 3, 2008, when talking about his run for the White House: "We will run an honorable campaign."
McCain made that statement in response to a question about whether his campaign would resemble George Bush's run for the White House in 2000, one of the nastier campaigns on record.
With less than 2 weeks before Election Day, it's very much an open question whether John McCain has kept his word.
In fact, in the last few weeks John McCain has become downright nasty. It started around the time one of his advisers said that if McCain campaigned on the economy, he would lose. And the ugly personal attacks began. Barack Obama's past acquaintance with William Ayers, Barack Obama's economic plan is socialism, Barack Obama will say anything to get elected.
His running mate, Sarah Palin, has chimed in with such gutter-level rhetoric as Obama pals around with terrorists.
The sudden negative tone for the man who vowed to run an honorable campaign is not going unnoticed by the voters. A recent CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll found 60 percent think McCain has unfairly attacked Obama, up from 42 percent in September.
It's sad that an honorable man like John McCain in a desperate struggle to avoid being embarrassed on November 4th has resorted to campaign tactics typically associated with people who can make no legitimate claim to being honorable.
Here’s my question to you: John McCain promised to run an "honorable" campaign. Has he?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why do citizens in 70 countries prefer Obama to McCain?
This billboard in Belgrade, Serbia states, 'Change that we can believe in' posted by a group called 'Europe has no alternative' and depicts an image of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Senator John McCain says when it comes to foreign policy he's light years ahead of Barack Obama. Over and over again, McCain has insisted Obama lacks the necessary experience to conduct business with foreign countries on behalf of the United States.
So how do you explain this?
Citizens of dozens of foreign countries prefer Barack Obama over John McCain as our next president by a margin of almost 4 to 1, according to a massive poll conducted by the Gallup Organization. About 30 percent of those surveyed prefer Obama, while just 8 percent favor McCain.
Watch: Cafferty: Obama favored abroad?
This was no daily tracking poll either. Gallup polled people in 70 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and North and South America, representing nearly half the world's population, between May and September of this year.
Citizens of the Philippines and Georgia were the only ones who preferred McCain to Obama. Not exactly the super-powers we're looking to mend fences with.
Here’s my question to you: Why do citizens in 70 foreign countries prefer Barack Obama to John McCain by a margin of nearly 4-1?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What role do the Pres. candidates play in the bailout plan?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
We've never had a situation like this before, where a national crisis has intervened six weeks before a presidential election. So far, despite all the grandstanding, Senators Obama and McCain have had little impact on the debate surrounding the Wall Street rescue plan.
Today, McCain said of the failed bailout package: "We didn't do a good enough job. We'll go at it. I'm glad to stay at it. That's what my job is as an American, not as a candidate for president."
He's said he'll return to Washington to help with negotiations. You remember how well that worked last week when he parachuted into Washington to save the day. He was going to cancel last Friday's debate if there wasn't a deal. But there was no deal and he went anyway. His campaign said he was confident enough there would be a deal. But there was no deal. At the end of the day McCain looked a little silly.
Watch: Cafferty: Bailout Role?
But this was a failure on both parties' part. Two-thirds of Republicans and about one-third of Democrats in the House voted against the bailout plan. Barack Obama supported it. In the wake of yesterday's failure, he has urged calm. He doesn't want Congress to start over on the bill. "Given the progress we have made," Obama said, " I believe we are unlikely to succeed if we start from scratch or reopen negotiations about the core elements of the agreement."
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the bailout package, what's the proper role for the presidential candidates?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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