Daily Archives: Nov. 1, 2008

Why McCain is losing independents

John McCain has been losing support among independent women voters, and columnist Anne Applebaum, herself an independent voter who supported McCain in 2000, explained why. She contends that McCain has abandoned what appealed to voters in 2000 and aligned himself with the “rapidly deteriorating, increasingly anti-intellectual, no longer even recognizably conservative Republican Party.” She lamented: “Although McCain has one of the best records for bipartisanship in the Senate, he’s let his campaign appeal to his party’s extremes. Though he is a true foreign policy intellectual, his supporters cultivate ignorance and fear.”
Columnist David Brooks, a McCain fan, made a similar argument in noting how the GOP is losing the center. Self-declared moderates favor Obama by 59 to 30 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll, and voters favor Obama by 21 points on the economy and by 14 points on tax policy, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Open thread 11/1

Local candidates should beware of YouTube, too

Let the video surveillance footage of Johnson County Commissioner John M. Toplikar allegedly stealing his opponent’s campaign signs be a reminder that local candidates can get tripped up by YouTube, too. Olathe police charged Toplikar with misdemeanor theft after finding challenger Calvin Hayden’s signs in his possession. Toplikar later claimed that he “moved” the signs because they were “deliberately” placed to block his, then acknowledged that he shouldn’t have taken them down.