McCain's Rovian Makeover

News broke today that John McCain is putting aide Steve Schmidt in charge of the day-to-day running of his campaign and tasking campaign manager Rick Davis with "big-picture issues such as general strategy, helping to plan the convention, picking a vice president and tending to the needs of major donors," according to The Politico's Jonathan Martin.

It's a promotion for Schmidt and a quasi-demotion for Davis, who'll still remain as McCain's closest advisor inside the campaign. More importantly, the move sends a signal to Republican powerbrokers that an often unsteady McCain campaign will emulate the tactics of the last successful GOP presidential campaign: Bush-Cheney '04.

Unlike a number of McCain insiders, Schmidt retains close ties to the Bush world. He was a top aide to Dick Cheney in the Bush White House and a key deputy to Karl Rove during the '04 campaign. More and more, of late, the McCain campaign bears Rove's imprimatur. Given the unpopularity of President Bush and voters' intense dissatisfaction with the national Republican Party, McCain can only rise so far. But Barack Obama can still fall, which is why the McCain campaign has adopted the Rove strategy of attacking Obama as a flip-flopping liberal who denigrates the troops, just as Rove did to John Kerry in 2004. Hence the three days of hyperventilated outrage over General Wesley Clark's comments about McCain's readiness to be Commander-in-Chief.

But these days Rovian politics only takes one so far--just ask Republicans in Congress. That's why Schmidt's more recent gig--managing Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election bid in California--may be more instructive for McCain. After unsuccessfully battling unions and teachers at the beginning of his term as Governor, Schwarzenegger sounded more like Bill Clinton than George Bush by the time he ran for re-election.

Rove pushed the Republican Party to the right, while Schwarzenegger has steered it to the center. Can the Terminator co-exist with Turd Blossom? McCain is betting the presidency on it.

Comments (22)

1. >>>After unsuccessfully battling unions and teachers at the beginning of his term as Governor, Schwarzenegger sounded more like Bill Clinton than George Bush by the time he ran for re-election.

   Rove pushed the Republican Party to the right, while Schwarzenegger has steered it to the center. Can the Terminator co-exist with Turd Blossom? McCain is betting the presidency on it. <<<

   Arnold did A LOT more than just talk his way to the center. He mended fences with Democrats and pushed much of the Democratic agenda in the California state legislature.

   McCain, on the other hand, while constructing a centrist "illusion", is very much a right-wing nut like Bush. He wants to drill for oil in environmentally sensitive areas, he wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years, wants to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, wants to continue HMO neglect of universal coverage and universal healthcare, wants to give tax breaks to the rich and continue "trickle-down economics", and wants large multinational corporations to essentially get a free pass to continue to engage in socially irresponsible behavior, while workers and ordinary Americans get the shaft.

   John (McSame) McCain is just more of the same George Bush Republican policies with a moderate looking face.

   Posted by Metteyya at 07/02/2008 @ 4:30pm

2. Yes-- lets see the sought out criminal rOve wannabe do what he's done for the 23% job approval petty dic'tator hsuB, the worst exec in modern US history-- to McCave.

   Will we see a repeat of Rudy 9/11 Giuliani, where John POW McCave touts his war wounds over and over ad nauseam via imploring everyone not to continue making it an issue... OH DUH!

   Since McCave is too weak to attack hsuB's many many failures, fearful of a corporate backlash to the march beyond the current petty dic'tatorship philosophy, POW is all McCave's got...

   Posted by hsuBfools at 07/02/2008 @ 6:01pm

3. 'Given the unpopularity of President Bush and voters' intense dissatisfaction with the national Republican Party, McCain can only rise so far. But Barack Obama can still fall, which is why the McCain campaign has adopted the Rove strategy of attacking Obama as a flip-flopping liberal who denigrates the troops, just as Rove did to John Kerry in 2004'

   Doesn't it just figure that it would come to this for ole' John McCain. Got nothing appealing for a majority of voters, so lets go Rovian on Obama and see what happens. Geez.....who could have predicted. Well Hillary tried that one, but didn't make it. Wonder what those Repugs will think of. Hope Obama stops flip flopping and keeps his eyes on the prize.

   Posted by OneVote at 07/02/2008 @ 8:54pm

4. Both McCain & I have `earned' the right to have more flip-flops.......more facts have changed.........I never believed computer/storage tech. can advance so fast that now you can squeeze gazillion GB on a `thumb'......

   Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/02/2008 @ 8:49pm

   McCain flip flopped by the end of this campaign. He was denouncing people like Hagee. Then he called for their support. Now he is denouncing them again. It is not over the last 60 years Happy it's over the last year that he has changed his perspective constantly. Face your candidate is a flip flopper to the extreme. He has no scruples he only says what will get him elected.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/02/2008 @ 8:55pm

5. "Bit of wishful thinking, Mr. Berman? Considering the mid-single digit spread in the polls. I won't take much issue with GW's unpopularity...it's a tough trendline to reverse when the MSM has a new heart.......leg throb. You attributed "intense dissatisfaction" to the wrong place, it belongs to Congress."

   Happy. Are you kidding me? Bush is at 28% approval rating. Thats OVER 70% DISAPPROVAL.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/02/2008 @ 8:56pm

6. Both McCain & I have `earned' the right to have more flip-flops.......more facts have changed.........I never believed computer/storage tech. can advance so fast that now you can squeeze gazillion GB on a `thumb'......

   Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/02/2008 @ 8:49pm

   Also this isn't a flip flop that you used as an example Happ. This is just a lack of imagination for the extremes of which computers could push. A flip flop is a change of opinion without an increase of information. You didn't flip flop you were just proven wrong.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/02/2008 @ 8:58pm

7. "tending to the needs of major donors"

   a life at the semenary......

   Posted by frosty zoom at 07/02/2008 @ 9:55pm

8. oops,

   ah, life....

   Posted by frosty zoom at 07/02/2008 @ 9:58pm

9. well,

   at least mccain keeps getting worserest for each of obama's worsers.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 07/02/2008 @ 10:00pm

10. "Happy. Are you kidding me? Bush is at 28% approval rating. Thats OVER 70% DISAPPROVAL."

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/02/2008 @ 8:56pm

    C'mon C3, you know better than to quote bias polls. If the man was as bad as the media paints him, the people would have run him out of town with pitchforks and torches by now. The polls cannot reflect the true feelings of a whole nation. It's simply impossible.

    It's one of many things I disliked about the media in general and journalism as a whole.

    Posted by ACook at 07/02/2008 @ 10:16pm

11. If the man was as bad as the media paints him, the people would have run him out of town with pitchforks and torches by now.

    acook.

    are you kidding?

    they'd miss IFL and LOST.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 07/02/2008 @ 10:32pm

12. The " agents of intolerance " flip flop by McCain is but one among many ( taxes, torture, etc. ), but is the most damning, speaking volumes about the depth ( or lack thereof ) of McCain's principles. After getting smeared by the religious right in 2000, McCain seemed to be speaking from the heart, and reflected a sentiment that many felt. Of course Mr. Principle was shortly kissing Falwell's ass, and when done with him moved on to such equally distasteful bigots such as Hagee and Parsley. McCain sought them out. If he did not know the kind of venom and hatred they spewed out, he certainly gets an A for ignorance, but it is very unlikely that any handler would not be aware of their histories. It is clear he felt he needed the votes of the religious right to win the White House. The " agents of intolerance " comment and his subsequent world class flip flop should give any sane person pause. It is no surprise then that McCain, while decrying torture, gave the President a pass on torture. This kind of compromise of very deeply held beliefs is a gigantic character flaw. Personally, my dream is to have McCain's explode on national TV. Maybe we can get James Carville to do it like he did to Novack!

    Posted by waters at 07/02/2008 @ 10:37pm

13. I don't get it, it was shown that Rove's tactics are unpopular with the Dems winning 3 secure Repub seats. McCain's campaign is not only going right and nasty - and they go together a lot lately. It is also working to deflect attention from McCain with nonsense like the Wes Clark flap. And I don't know, maybe Obama's campaign's distancing itself from Clark bothers me more than so many of his other changes, since it was seemingly done without a fact check. McCain is going after the doubters and Obama is going away from the believers.

    Maskbeta - I haven't answered any of your posts because I tend to agree with them, but hi, I enjoy reading your stuff.

    Posted by ramara at 07/02/2008 @ 11:48pm

14. Rove's main tactics: Swiftboat type slime attacks and fearmongering have become the political life's blood of the Republican party. It's really all they have.

    It's pathetic. Didn't McCain learn anything from the hard fall of Guliani? It's like a drug they can't give up. "Just one more 9/11 reference and then I'll stop."

    Posted by koroviev at 07/03/2008 @ 06:07am

15. While McIdiot tries to become Bush II or Bush III, check out the link below. The White House Policies are failing miserably in Iraq as pointed out by an ex Ronald Reagan official. Funny how even people from the Nixon and Reagan administrations look like democrats. Go ahead liverlips and argue with people from the Great Ronald Reagan Administration.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#25504501

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:23am

16. Now, FRANKGRITS is allied with Rove!

    Oh, the irony.

    Posted by Maskbeta at 07/02/2008 @ 4:19pm

    MASK, Why did you change to Maskbeta? Did the alpha version have some bugs in it?

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:26am

17. I'll give Magic his due.....his AUDACITY to Flip-flop across so many fronts in such a short time, is second to none.......worthy of entry into the Guiness Book of Record for most flops in the shortest amount of time! We can even pay more homage to him by labeling flip-flops as CHANGE You (Libs only) Can Believe In!

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/02/2008 @ 7:20pm

    Happy, You are so full of it that your ignorance knows no bounds. You accuse Obama of flip-flopping of which he is definitely guitlty of. But now, lets take a look at your boy McIdiot. That guy is opposing bills he wrote himself. He's on the flipside of about half of the issues he ran on in 2000.

    McCain has completely sold himself out to the far right nutcases and Obama is selling himself out to the middle of the road rethugs who don't want to continue blowing billions of dollars in Iraq.

    Obama's problem is that pandering to the right will lose him a lot of votes on the left. That's McIdiots only chance of winning. This election is Obama's to lose, not McCain's to win very much like the last two elections were the not Bush's to win, but the democrats to lose.

    Gore should have won by a landslide and screwed around trying to be Mr Nice Guy and didn't attack W and Cheney for the slime ball, corrupt sharks that they are. And Kerry would have won had he also attacked W and Cheney for the corrupt, cowardly sharks that they are. Rove and the swiftboaters turned the tables tried to make Kerry look like he didn't earn his meddles but certainly didn't prove he wasn't in the Nam, while when W was hiding in daddies shadows and sat out the Vietnam war and we won't even mention fat boy Cheney's deferments.

    Like I've said before, the rethugs are a bunch of loud talking, fat, lazy blowhards afraid of their own shadows and the biggest hypocrits the world has ever seen.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:38am

18. Both McCain & I have `earned' the right to have more flip-flops.......more facts have changed.........I never believed computer/storage tech. can advance so fast that now you can squeeze gazillion GB on a `thumb'......

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/02/2008 @ 8:49pm

    Well grandpa, you still haven't learned a damn thing for all of your supposed wisdom.

    Neither you nor McCain have earned the right to lie, screw people over or think you are on some kind of high road. Get over yourself old boy.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:40am

19. Me lack imagination? and I started investing in all sorts of energy long before the latest runups?

    IF you and I were discussing personal computers & storage around 1985, and you, the visionary you are, told me that in 20 yrs, the entire Library of Congress can be on a chip the size of a penny, I'd bet no. Similarly, if you had told me then, in 20 yrs, the Demos would be the party to limit free speech, to reform Welfare, I'd said NO.

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/03/2008 @ 12:14am

    That would probably be because you know nothing of science. A little research on your part, and you would have thought differently. Kind of like in hindsight, Iraq was a damn bad idea though the CIA thought it was a bad idea before we went in...W just didn't listen to what he didn't want to hear.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:48am

20. Politics is not for the weak of heart. Although it should be noted that we are far more civilized about it now than in the 19th century when outrageous insults and slurs were used against opponents.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/03/2008 @ 12:52am

    What did that one guy say about casting stones? You rethugs all seem to think you are Nolan Ryan but live in glass houses yourselves.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/03/2008 @ 06:50am

21. FRANK -

    Clark did not "Swiftboat" McCain. That is nonsense.

    Posted by Hman23 at 07/03/2008 @ 12:38pm

22. If the man was as bad as the media paints him, the people would have run him out of town with pitchforks and torches by now.

    Posted by ACook at 07/02/2008 @ 10:16pm

    Yes. This makes a lot of sense. Because this is the only true way to determine if a president is unpopular.

    Posted by Hman23 at 07/03/2008 @ 12:39pm