"Consistent message eluding McCain; Pragmatic pitch, fierce attack mix" by Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff | October 14, 2008
When the head of a local group representing families with Down syndrome rose at a town hall meeting outside Milwaukee on Thursday morning to ask Sarah Palin what she would do for those with the condition, Palin boasted that as governor she had increased spending on programs for children with disabilities and would do the same nationally.
From the same stage half an hour earlier, however, John McCain had appeared to rule out such a commitment, as he reiterated a pledge to restrain new spending on everything other than the military or veterans care. "We'll impose a spending freeze to stop the spending spree in Washington!" McCain had declared to applause.
The VETS DESERVE IT; the WARS do NOT!
McCain has struggled to settle on a consistent message as he enters the final month of the campaign with an unusual predicament before him: an enthused Republican base in his corner - but Democrats and independents whom he once included in his "McCain Majority" drifting from reach.
"Obama has problems, too, about character. But McCain had a chance to be a maverick and draw a line in the sand, and he missed it when he voted for" the bailout, said Bruce Perlmutter, a retired small-business owner and independent from La Crosse, Wisc., who remains undecided after seeing both candidates campaign recently in his hometown. "That would have appealed to independents, but he caved." --more--"
That would have appealed to a LOT of Americans!
