Who Knew?

Written by: Monica Smith on Jul 16, 2008 8:13 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Blog For America, Rockingham/Strafford DFA

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

Certainly not me. If I thought about it at all, I figured that die-hard Republicans went for the least objectionable candidate on the Republican ticket in the primary. Now the National Journal tells me:

GOP Woes in 'McCain Country'
Arizona's senior senator got big boosts from New Hampshire's 2000 and 2008 primaries.

by James A. Barnes

Sat. Jul 5, 2008

Few places have been better to John McCain than tiny New Hampshire, which twice gave him huge victories in its Republican presidential primary. His first win made him a strong contender for his party's 2000 nomination. But it was his January 2008 comeback, after his campaign had been practically written off, that sealed his special relationship with the state.

"New Hampshire is McCain country," says former state Democratic Party Chairman George Bruno.

and goes on to predict that:

Barack Obama will work hard to discredit McCain's maverick image, which has played well in the state.

That strikes me as a really tough assignment. How does one discredit an image? And what would be the point, since there's no evidence anyone (other than the media PR mavens) even knows what a maverick is?

As best I've been able to tell, in McCain's case the word is either meant to obscure the reality that he doesn't like anyone very much or give the false impression that he's still on track to be tamed--like a wild mustang, maybe. But, since he's now over 70 years old, the latter seems increasingly unlikely. And why would we bother? There's lots more talent around.

Besides, elections are about the voters, right? And the voters, sick and tired of do-nothing government have been trending Democratic. I just hope the voters aren't going to be undermined by the kind of attitude expressed by Obama's purported Co-Chairman, Jim Demers:

"The summer will be telling," said Obama New Hampshire Co-Chairman Jim Demers. Likewise, Demers pointed out that the cost of home-heating oil is going to hit many Granite Staters hard right around election time. "That, I believe, will be a shock to their system when they have to pay for that first big tank of heating oil in October."

The idea that the voters are going to be shocked into voting for the Democrat is not a positive. And even if they accept the fact that the price of oil is going way up because the value of the dollar has declined, that's not likely to put any member of the Senate, which has been ineffective in getting the current executive to face reality, in a good light.

On the other hand, the Republican leadership in the state seems less than swift.

"There's no doubt that the Republican Party has struggled over the last few years to get their bearings and win some elections here," said McCain adviser Dennehy. But he predicts, "The race is going to come down to the independent undeclared voters. And [McCain] is someone who has a proven record of working across the partisan aisles."

....
and

The day before the Unity event, the McCain campaign announced formation of New Hampshire Democrats for McCain, which Jim McConaha and Valery Mitchell of Concord co-chair. Long active in Democratic Party politics, the couple backed Democrat Christopher Dodd in the presidential sweepstakes this year. McConaha was an early backer of Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.

It may be unfair, but it seems like maybe "maverick" is a synonym of "opportunist." That might also explain why recent transplants from Massachusetts like to vote for McCain. Why the working people of Manchester are attracted to a fellow who hasn't done a lick of work since he dumped his first wife for the heiress, is another question I don't know the answer to.

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Location: NH