2008 Woodie Awards
McCain staging a comeback?
Will Green
Issue date: 1/17/08 Section: World Views
The John McCain 2008 presidential campaign has been a lesson in the unpredictability of American politics. After enjoying initially strong poll numbers early in the race, the senior senator from Arizona weathered a series of setbacks in the summer of 2007 that threatened to derail the Straight Talk Express, as his campaign bus is affectionately known. Stemming from his unpopular positions on the War in Iraq and immigration reform, his campaign nearly ran out of money and had to lay off a large number of staff and convince others to work without pay. Because of this, many pundits wrote off his candidacy as unrealistic, but McCain seemed to revel in his return to underdog status as the political maverick of the Republican Party. Although attributable to a number of reasons, many site the increasing success of the Surge as the main reason why McCain was able to pull off an impressive fourth place finish in the Iowa Caucus followed by a dramatic win over Mitt Romney in New Hampshire with 37% of the vote to Romney's 32%. With the race wide open, the four leading candidates, in no particular order, appear to be former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and McCain. The South Carolina and Michigan primaries will be the next tests for the candidates and political pundits are divided about who will come out on top.
John Sidney McCain III was born in 1936 in the former U.S. Panama Canal Zone. Both his father and grandfather were Navy Admirals, a path that the young McCain would follow as he attended the U.S. Naval Academy and became a pilot, flying numerous missions in the Vietnam War. In October, 1967 McCain's plane was shot down over Vietnam leading to his being a Prisoner of War for five and a half years. He endured torture at the hands of his captors resulting in the limited function of his arms. Because his father was an admiral, the Vietcong offered to release him but McCain refused on the grounds of "first in, first out," meaning that he would not leave until those soldiers captured before him were sent home. This courage and personal character are factors that attract many voters to his banner in this election
John Sidney McCain III was born in 1936 in the former U.S. Panama Canal Zone. Both his father and grandfather were Navy Admirals, a path that the young McCain would follow as he attended the U.S. Naval Academy and became a pilot, flying numerous missions in the Vietnam War. In October, 1967 McCain's plane was shot down over Vietnam leading to his being a Prisoner of War for five and a half years. He endured torture at the hands of his captors resulting in the limited function of his arms. Because his father was an admiral, the Vietcong offered to release him but McCain refused on the grounds of "first in, first out," meaning that he would not leave until those soldiers captured before him were sent home. This courage and personal character are factors that attract many voters to his banner in this election
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