|
Edited on Sat Jun-21-08 01:53 PM by Drunken Irishman
Call it campaign growing pains. Or bad luck. Or a combination of the two.
By any name, Sen. John McCain is hampered by missteps and self-generated controversy in the early days of the general election campaign for the White House.
Take his most recent trip through several states and the Canadian capital, a five-day span during which he courted conservatives and independents alike, raised more than $10 million and began detailing his considerable differences with Sen. Barack Obama on energy policy.
...
On Thursday, the Arizona senator flew to Iowa, a likely battleground state in the November election, where he expressed sympathy with victims of severe flooding and pledged support for federal recovery aid. The event was overshadowed by President George W. Bush's appearance elsewhere in the same state on the same day.
Friday's trip to Canada brought more controversy.
McCain arrived aboard his chartered campaign jet, yet told reporters at a news conference, "this is not a political campaign trip." The senator added he did not feel it was appropriate to have the government pay "while I am the nominee of my party."
The centerpiece of the six-hour visit was a speech to the Economic Club of Canada that amounted to a cross-border political attack. McCain criticized Obama, without mentioning him by name, for his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
|