This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7701053.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Washington diary: McCain's evolution | Washington diary: McCain's evolution |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| By Matt Frei BBC News, Washington | By Matt Frei BBC News, Washington |
| I have had it with the whiz bang maps that swell or splinter on touching.New Hampshire voters rescued Mr McCain's campaign in January | I have had it with the whiz bang maps that swell or splinter on touching.New Hampshire voters rescued Mr McCain's campaign in January |
| They are beginning to haunt my usually pleasant dreams. | They are beginning to haunt my usually pleasant dreams. |
| I am drowning in the fractions and decimals of swing counties and swing states, making me feel like a deranged Russell Crowe surrounded by frantic equations in A Beautiful Mind. | I am drowning in the fractions and decimals of swing counties and swing states, making me feel like a deranged Russell Crowe surrounded by frantic equations in A Beautiful Mind. |
| I can no longer hear another speech or see another TV ad. | I can no longer hear another speech or see another TV ad. |
| And yes, I hope that Joe the plumber, Tito the roofer and Guy the pollster talk to Fred the FBI agent and disappear into a witness protection programme for a few months. | And yes, I hope that Joe the plumber, Tito the roofer and Guy the pollster talk to Fred the FBI agent and disappear into a witness protection programme for a few months. |
| I hear Alaska is a great place to hide. | I hear Alaska is a great place to hide. |
| It is time to curl up under a blanket, hug a hot water bottle and reflect on what has happened and what may happen. | It is time to curl up under a blanket, hug a hot water bottle and reflect on what has happened and what may happen. |
| Charming | Charming |
| The year 2008 was never going to be an easy one for a Republican candidate. | The year 2008 was never going to be an easy one for a Republican candidate. |
| It is a year when approval ratings for the incumbent president from the same party have hit an all-time low, when America is fighting two wars and losing at least one and when, most importantly, the free market economy which is the very foundation of American greatness is crumbling. | It is a year when approval ratings for the incumbent president from the same party have hit an all-time low, when America is fighting two wars and losing at least one and when, most importantly, the free market economy which is the very foundation of American greatness is crumbling. |
| America is not dreaming this year, it is sleepless with worry. | America is not dreaming this year, it is sleepless with worry. |
| But if any Republican can win in such a year it is John McCain. | But if any Republican can win in such a year it is John McCain. |
| Remember the other Republican candidates who ran in a race that often looked like a political version of the programme Survivor? | Remember the other Republican candidates who ran in a race that often looked like a political version of the programme Survivor? |
| Stranded on the desert island, we had fellow contestants Mitt Romney - the Stepford Man could have helped with ideas to fix the economy, but he was too extra-terrestrial for his own party and for middle America. | Stranded on the desert island, we had fellow contestants Mitt Romney - the Stepford Man could have helped with ideas to fix the economy, but he was too extra-terrestrial for his own party and for middle America. |
| He loves a fight, he has a notorious temper, but he has also been more ready than his opponent to reach across the senatorial aisle and thrash out deals with opponents | He loves a fight, he has a notorious temper, but he has also been more ready than his opponent to reach across the senatorial aisle and thrash out deals with opponents |
| Mike Huckabee - great candidate, superb jokes, but oddball by name and oddball by nature. | Mike Huckabee - great candidate, superb jokes, but oddball by name and oddball by nature. |
| Rudy Giuliani - his middle name was 9/11, but the war America cares about today is the one with their bank manager and loan officer. | Rudy Giuliani - his middle name was 9/11, but the war America cares about today is the one with their bank manager and loan officer. |
| Fred Thompson - great at acting a president, perhaps not so great at being one. | Fred Thompson - great at acting a president, perhaps not so great at being one. |
| So the party ended up with John McCain. | So the party ended up with John McCain. |
| This time a year ago his campaign had floundered. Money and staff were deserting him. | This time a year ago his campaign had floundered. Money and staff were deserting him. |
| He was wheeling his own bags around US airports being characteristically candid to journalists about how bad things were. | He was wheeling his own bags around US airports being characteristically candid to journalists about how bad things were. |
| He was, as ever, charming and approachable. | He was, as ever, charming and approachable. |
| A combination of shrewd tactics, luck and the abiding love for him felt by New Hampshire primary voters rescued him from oblivion. | A combination of shrewd tactics, luck and the abiding love for him felt by New Hampshire primary voters rescued him from oblivion. |
| The state whose motto is "Live Free or Die" once again supported a candidate who had lived free all his life and cheated death four times. | The state whose motto is "Live Free or Die" once again supported a candidate who had lived free all his life and cheated death four times. |
| His life story is the stuff of Hollywood scripts, only more exciting. His character is far more intriguing. | His life story is the stuff of Hollywood scripts, only more exciting. His character is far more intriguing. |
| Notorious temper | Notorious temper |
| Mr McCain is a man of contradictions. | Mr McCain is a man of contradictions. |
| He loves a fight, he has a notorious temper, but he has also been more ready than his opponent to reach across the senatorial aisle and thrash out deals with opponents. | He loves a fight, he has a notorious temper, but he has also been more ready than his opponent to reach across the senatorial aisle and thrash out deals with opponents. |
| On top of that, he has courage, grit and honesty. | On top of that, he has courage, grit and honesty. |
| He was the perfect mensch - a candidate who could capture the elusive middle ground in an election when America had seen the pitfalls of ideology. | He was the perfect mensch - a candidate who could capture the elusive middle ground in an election when America had seen the pitfalls of ideology. |
| And then something changed. | And then something changed. |
| Mr McCain, who had boasted to journalists in 2000 on his Straight Talk Express how he had captured lightning in a bottle, switched beverage. | Mr McCain, who had boasted to journalists in 2000 on his Straight Talk Express how he had captured lightning in a bottle, switched beverage. |
| He was now drinking the castor oil of the Republican right, talking about how he loathed the idea of being pro-choice (even though he had never really mounted the barricades against abortion) and how America needed to carry on cutting taxes (even though he had once opposed President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy). | He was now drinking the castor oil of the Republican right, talking about how he loathed the idea of being pro-choice (even though he had never really mounted the barricades against abortion) and how America needed to carry on cutting taxes (even though he had once opposed President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy). |
| Mr McCain reportedly wanted to pick Joe Lieberman as his running-mate | Mr McCain reportedly wanted to pick Joe Lieberman as his running-mate |
| Mr McCain started to sound like the guy who had beaten him once before. | Mr McCain started to sound like the guy who had beaten him once before. |
| Was George W Bush about to beat McCain again, this time because of an excess of friendship? | Was George W Bush about to beat McCain again, this time because of an excess of friendship? |
| I asked the candidate as much at a press conference. | I asked the candidate as much at a press conference. |
| He grinned back with shark's teeth. | He grinned back with shark's teeth. |
| Perhaps the man who had spent almost six years in solitary confinement had developed political Stockholm syndrome? | Perhaps the man who had spent almost six years in solitary confinement had developed political Stockholm syndrome? |
| He had become dependent on his captors. | He had become dependent on his captors. |
| His fractious campaign had inherited some of the lieutenants of Mr Bush's 2004 victory. | His fractious campaign had inherited some of the lieutenants of Mr Bush's 2004 victory. |
| Mr McCain was committing the mistake common to men in uniform - he was fighting the last war. | Mr McCain was committing the mistake common to men in uniform - he was fighting the last war. |
| He was re-fighting the 2004 election, when it was all about mobilising the base of the Republican Party. | He was re-fighting the 2004 election, when it was all about mobilising the base of the Republican Party. |
| Nothing illustrates this more than his choice of running mate. | Nothing illustrates this more than his choice of running mate. |
| Pit-bull | Pit-bull |
| Mr McCain is widely believed to have favoured his old friend and former Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman. | Mr McCain is widely believed to have favoured his old friend and former Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman. |
| It was made clear to him that choosing the Independent Senator from Connecticut who had once graced the Democratic ticket and was pro-choice would split the Republican Party like a log and ruin the party's convention. | It was made clear to him that choosing the Independent Senator from Connecticut who had once graced the Democratic ticket and was pro-choice would split the Republican Party like a log and ruin the party's convention. |
| So Mr McCain went to the other extreme and chose a pit-bull with lipstick. | So Mr McCain went to the other extreme and chose a pit-bull with lipstick. |
| The party loved it, the country was intrigued, feminists were lost for words, Obama was frozen like a moose caught in Governor Palin's cross hairs and it looked as if the gamble might have paid off... | The party loved it, the country was intrigued, feminists were lost for words, Obama was frozen like a moose caught in Governor Palin's cross hairs and it looked as if the gamble might have paid off... |
| Until Wall Street and the economy decided to have a nervous breakdown. | Until Wall Street and the economy decided to have a nervous breakdown. |
| Moderates, swing voters, and undecided voters started to desert the McCain/Palin ticket in droves. | Moderates, swing voters, and undecided voters started to desert the McCain/Palin ticket in droves. |
| The man who described himself as older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein can come across as doddery and short-fused | The man who described himself as older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein can come across as doddery and short-fused |
| Mr McCain was left with the shrinking base of an unpopular party. | Mr McCain was left with the shrinking base of an unpopular party. |
| And his campaign then failed to play by the rulebook it had invented. | And his campaign then failed to play by the rulebook it had invented. |
| The Republicans have been "out-Roved" by the Obama campaign. | The Republicans have been "out-Roved" by the Obama campaign. |
| The latter has turned the air-war of TV ads into a veritable carpet bombing. | The latter has turned the air-war of TV ads into a veritable carpet bombing. |
| And then there is the ground war. | And then there is the ground war. |
| Mr Obama has set up 50 offices with 250 paid staffers in Virginia. | Mr Obama has set up 50 offices with 250 paid staffers in Virginia. |
| Mr McCain has nine and should have known better, ever since it became obvious - when Democrat Jim Webb defeated George Allen in the 2006 mid term elections - that the Old Dominion was going to become a new battleground. | Mr McCain has nine and should have known better, ever since it became obvious - when Democrat Jim Webb defeated George Allen in the 2006 mid term elections - that the Old Dominion was going to become a new battleground. |
| The story is repeated in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. | The story is repeated in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. |
| Yesterday's hero | Yesterday's hero |
| Barack Obama has taken the fight to the enemy. | Barack Obama has taken the fight to the enemy. |
| He did not just get Colin Powell's endorsement he also used his military strategy of overwhelming force and applied it to the campaign. | He did not just get Colin Powell's endorsement he also used his military strategy of overwhelming force and applied it to the campaign. |
| For his part, Barack Obama knows the more mundane agonies of peace time: being brought up across the racial fault-line as an outsider by a single mother and an absent father; having to succeed at college in order to make a career With hindsight, the prolonged agony of the family feud between the Clintons and the Obamas helped to keep all those campaign offices open, register more and more voters and keep the rank and file of the Democratic Party excited and engaged. | |
| And then there is the question of age. | And then there is the question of age. |
| Despite his energy, the man who described himself as older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein can come across as doddery and short-fused. | Despite his energy, the man who described himself as older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein can come across as doddery and short-fused. |
| He is the last candidate from the greatest generation, a man from military stock who knows about the agonies of war. | He is the last candidate from the greatest generation, a man from military stock who knows about the agonies of war. |
| He is without doubt a hero of yesterday. | He is without doubt a hero of yesterday. |
| For his part, Barack Obama knows the more mundane agonies of peace time: being brought up across the racial fault-line as an outsider by a single mother and an absent father; having to succeed at college in order to make a career. | For his part, Barack Obama knows the more mundane agonies of peace time: being brought up across the racial fault-line as an outsider by a single mother and an absent father; having to succeed at college in order to make a career. |
| Barry Obama, as he was known in his childhood, is a product of today's multi-racial, mobile, fragmented America. | |
| He is a survivor of today. | He is a survivor of today. |
| His story is too raw and contemporary to be turned into an American myth - but it is undeniably genuine. | His story is too raw and contemporary to be turned into an American myth - but it is undeniably genuine. |
| In every speech he has given since his first moment in the limelight at the 2004 convention, the man who once said "I smoked pot and inhaled - wasn't that the point?" has doggedly stuck to his story. | In every speech he has given since his first moment in the limelight at the 2004 convention, the man who once said "I smoked pot and inhaled - wasn't that the point?" has doggedly stuck to his story. |
| We will find out what the audience really makes of it next Tuesday. | We will find out what the audience really makes of it next Tuesday. |
| Matt Frei is the presenter of BBC World News Americawhich airs every weekday on BBC News, BBC World News and BBC America (for viewers outside the UK only). | |
| Send us your comments in reaction to Matt Frei's Washington diary using the link below: | Send us your comments in reaction to Matt Frei's Washington diary using the link below: |
| Send your comments | Send your comments |