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by Jill Zuckman
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - What a difference a win makes.
Once relegated to flying commercial and carrying his own bags, Sen. John McCain left New Hampshire this morning a winner on a private 737 jet.
Instead of the usual half dozen reporters tagging along after him, more than 30 reporters, photographers and television crews accompanied him to Michigan where he was greeted by five satellite television trucks and a phalanx of cameras inside an airport hangar here.
After appearing on all three morning network news shows, McCain and his wife, Cindy, boarded the plane and walked down the aisle, shaking hands with staff, friends and press.
"It's very gratifying to see him accomplish this because in July there were only a handful of people who thought it was possible," said Charles R. Black Jr., his senior adviser.
In Michigan, which McCain won by six points in 2000, the senator said he planned to focus on the economy in remarks in Grand Rapids and Pontiac. "It's a very serious situation," he said of the state's job losses.
Aides said that McCain's overarching themes would remain the same as they were in New Hampshire – restoring trust and confidence in the government, controlling runaway spending, and being prepared to assume the position of Commander-in-Chief.
Over the last eight days, the campaign has taken in more than $1 million as contributions have steadily risen, according to Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager.
"There's no impediment to us running a full-blown primary campaign," Davis said of the restored coffers. McCain has been airing television commercials for the last week in Michigan and for the last two weeks in South Carolina, he said.
Comments
Oh great, the press has taken to annointing McCain now. We saw how that worked out for Obama. Stick with the skeleton staff and only a few good reporters who aren't going to take bets on when the campaign will fold, John. We don't need the reporters that were claiming an Obama victory in New Hampshire last Friday just because that's what they, personally, wanted.
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 10:37 AM
Why has this man not been arrested for treason? He was with the enemy for five and a half years! Torture works people. He obviously had a lot to say if they kept him around for five and a half years. Fred Thompson can git 'er done!
Posted by: john | January 9, 2008 10:49 AM
He will not win the nomination as he is too George Bush material, sensible republicans will not accept him
Posted by: Gary H. | January 9, 2008 10:49 AM
Tom Brokaw on what the media did in New Hampshire:
"We don't have to get in the business of making judgments before the polls have closed. And trying to stampede in effect the process," says Tom Brokaw. "I think that the people out there are going to begin to make judgments about us if we don't begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding."
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 11:05 AM
Crazy Johnny is looking very,very old.
It's nice that his daughter campaigns with him.
Oh sh**,that's his WIFE!
Posted by: Raving Loon | January 9, 2008 11:24 AM
Loon,
That's not his wife, that's his gravy train. He married into money just like John Kerry, but you don't see people beating up John McCain about it and making fun of him.
Posted by: jethro | January 9, 2008 11:44 AM
In a poll the usually poll-happy Swamp won't report on, Republican John McCain trounces Clinton and Obama in Pennsylvania, a state that voted Dem in 2000 and 2004:
"In the most recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Pennsylvania voters, John McCain leads Hillary Clinton 48% to 42% and Barack Obama 46% to 38%. No other Republican fares so well against the Democratic frontrunners."
Posted by: Bruce | January 9, 2008 11:45 AM
Crazy Johnny is looking very,very old.
It's nice that his daughter campaigns with him.
Oh sh**,that's his WIFE!
Posted by: Raving Loon | January 9, 2008 11:24 AM
Stay classy, lefties!
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 11:59 AM
He will not win the nomination as he is too George Bush material, sensible republicans will not accept him
Posted by: Gary H. | January 9, 2008 10:49 AM
Gary,
Do "sensible republicans" know basic grammar?
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 12:00 PM
Look who came back to the Swamp now that John McCain actually has good news following his name. Welcome back Jeff/Bill. John McCain is lucky to have supporters like you who cry, wine and disappear when things go bad.
Posted by: Paul | January 9, 2008 1:48 PM
Do "sensible republicans" know basic grammar?
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 12:00 PM
Stick around Jeff...we're gonna need all the help you can give us....are you a partisan or bipartisan?
Posted by: bill r. | January 9, 2008 3:19 PM
Here Jeff...help us with this one from an earlier thread.....................More examples of the horror movie "28 Groundhog Days," the story of Loony Left Kook Zombies who repeat the same maniacal nonsense day after day:
"Noun, verb, 9/11. Noun, verb, 9/11. Noun, verb, 9/11. Noun, verb, 9/11."
Posted by: John D | October 31, 2007 2:59 PM
Posted by: bill r. | January 9, 2008 3:26 PM
"Look who came back to the Swamp now that John McCain actually has good news following his name. Welcome back Jeff/Bill."
Astute observation. No doubt "College Republican" Jeff will crawl back to the hole from where he came as soon as the "Straight Talk Express" is once again derailed by the GOP hate machine.
We already "know" from Karl Rove that Mr. McCain fathered dark-skinned babies, I can't wait to see what the establishment Republicans do to bring him down this time.
Posted by: Jones | January 9, 2008 3:53 PM
bruce,
You just criticized the media for posting polls supporting Obama. Now you want them to post polls supporting McCain? Did polls suddenly get reliable again?
Posted by: dt | January 9, 2008 4:02 PM
Actually, Paul, I never disappeared. I just left the name-calling here in the sandbox here to you guys. It's honorable work you've been doing. I've been in New Hampshire, volunteering. You may have seen some of the fruits of my efforts on the news ;)
p.s. I was in college in the '90s, but I assure you I wasn't politically active. I was too busy studying and partying. I would've fallen for something dumb like "Obama for President" if I'd been more politically active back then.
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 4:24 PM
Wishful thinking, eh, Jones? It's amazing, to me, how much McCain scares you guys. You're willing to say or do anything to stop him.
Is it his history of getting money out of politics? That he was right about using more troops to stabilize Iraq three years before Bush did it? That so many people identify with his personal integrity?
None of the democrats have a plan for stabilizing Iraq and defending us from threats from abroad like McCain does. All they have is hate speech and name calling.
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 4:32 PM
I've supported McCain throughout the last year, Gary, and I think he's the man to lead our country but if he doesn't get the nomination I'd consider another candidate. Some of the democrats even intrigue me.
Do you have any preference in the wide open field?
Posted by: Jeff | January 9, 2008 4:36 PM
I knew Jeffy would be back.All we need know is Juanie and we're one big happy family again.
Posted by: Raving Loon | January 9, 2008 5:09 PM
"dt", as I've explained before;
1) polls are often crap;
2) the media (such as the poll-happy DNC Swamp) that publicizes these polls is crap;
3) but if the media will persist in publicizing polls, the media should be fair and, along with the polls the media always publicizes (the ones favorable to Democrats), publicize polls that show Republicans ahead.
I've tried to keep the above short and simple for you, at about a third grade level of reading difficulty.
Posted by: Bruce | January 9, 2008 6:08 PM
In a poll the usually poll-happy Swamp won't report on, Republican John McCain trounces Clinton and Obama in Pennsylvania, a state that voted Dem in 2000 and 2004:
"In the most recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Pennsylvania voters, John McCain leads Hillary Clinton 48% to 42% and Barack Obama 46% to 38%. No other Republican fares so well against the Democratic frontrunners."
___________________________
Right, and based on last night's results, we know how accurate polls are. But bruthiee only believes polls that reinforce his small minded, knee jerk, twisted, wide-stance, reich-winger view of reality.
Posted by: rncbs | January 9, 2008 8:00 PM
"dt", as I've explained before;
1) polls are often crap;
2) the media (such as the poll-happy DNC Swamp) that publicizes these polls is crap;
3) but if the media will persist in publicizing polls, the media should be fair and, along with the polls the media always publicizes (the ones favorable to Democrats), publicize polls that show Republicans ahead.
I've tried to keep the above short and simple for you, at about a third grade level of reading difficulty.
Posted by: Bruce | January 9, 2008 6:08 PM
Oh, professor, where's your classroom manners? First, you're lying when you say the Tribune never post polls showing Republicans leading. Do they show more on Obama?, yes, because he's a senator from Illinois. The Tribune also has more stories on the Bears than the Packers, the Cubs than the Yankees, the Bulls than the Spurs. Gee, I wonder why?
You also know that polls are valuable, otherwise, why do candidates spend millions on the practice? Some times they get it wrong, usually because their underlying assumptions were faulty, not because the statistics were in error.
I looked at dozens of past polls published by The Swamp featuring Republican candidates, and you rarely registered a peep. But a Dem poll comes up and you go all conspiracy-theory on us. I can't wait to hear your last pathetic whimper before the '08 election. If it's anything like this...
Pew poll: Republicans catching up
Posted by Frank James at 6:35 pm CST
(Nov. 5, 2006)
Analysis of polls gives GOP comfort
Posted by Frank James at 10:49 pm CST
Bruce comment on "Analysis":
I can almost hear the crying, sobbing and sniffling among "the Swamp" reporters at the thought that their hopes might once again be disappointed and the GOP might once again win.
Posted by: Bruce | November 5, 2006 11:14 PM
Posted by: dt | January 10, 2008 3:36 AM