Hillary Adviser Sid Blumenthal: Public Doesn't See McCain As Continuation Of Bush
A few weeks back Hillary took some heat for saying that John McCain had passed the "commander in chief test," prompting some to point out that this could prove rather helpful to McCain in a general election.
Now Hillary adviser Sidney Blumenthal has veered similarly off the Dem message for the general, warning his party that painting McCain as a "McSame" continuation of Bush will fail:
Bucking the Democratic National Committee's talking points that characterize a potential McCain administration as tantamount to a third Bush term, Blumenthal told our Liz Halloran that running on that strategy in the fall would be a mistake."I understand people's political reasons for doing that," he said. "I think it's more helpful to describe [political opponents] as they are." Bottom line, Blumenthal calls the strategy "a mistake and adds: "The public doesn't see [McCain] that way. That's a hard sell."
Whether Blumenthal is right or wrong about this -- my take is that the jury's out on whether the public will buy this, because the media has seared the "McCain is a maverick" line into the electorate's brain for 15 years or more -- it certainly won't make him any friends at the DNC.
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