WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
McCain: The Angry Warrior?
John McCain's combative interview with the Des Moines Register yesterday has raised questions anew about the Arizona senator's temperament as the presidential race enters its final days. In a decidedly testy exchange with the Register's editorial board, McCain was at turns caustic and sarcastic when pressed about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's experience and criticism from some in conservative circles of her selection as his vice presidential running mate....
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The exchange was noted by the Associated Press' legendary Iowa reporter Mike Glover in a piece headlined "McCain turns irritable, sarcastic in interview." Glover's lead read: "Republican presidential candidate John McCain, once renowned for his jocular sessions with journalists, appeared irritable and at times sarcastic in an interview in which he defended running mate Sarah Palin's experience and campaign ads critical of rival Barack Obama."...
We have written before about McCain's tendency to let his more sarcastic -- some might say mean -- side out in public. And, we have also noted that this tendency runs directly counter to the fundamental appeal of McCain to voters: the image of him as a "happy warrior" and the belief that you can disagree without being disagreeable....
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The re-emergence of the angrier McCain -- if even for only one interview -- comes at a bad time for his campaign. A series of state polls in key battlegrounds released today show him well behind, and the latest Washington Post/ABC News survey, which put Obama at 50 percent and McCain at 46 percent, showed significant voter doubts about McCain temperament. Nearly six in ten voters said Obama had the "better personality and temperament to be president" while just 34 percent said the same of McCain. In McCain's defense, those numbers -- at least in the Post poll -- have stayed remarkably stable since the spring.
Regardless of the reason for McCain's frustration -- the line of questioning, the fact that he was in Iowa, a state where Obama is comfortably ahead, just five weeks before the election etc. -- it's never good this close to the election to show anger or even flashes of a temper. Voters want a president they believe will be cool, calm and collected under pressure not on who they worry will lose their temper or not be able to think clearly in a moment of crisis.
McCain needs to carefully measure his tone to avoid a repeat of the Register interview if he wants to take the oath of office next January.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/mccain_the_angry_warrior.html#more
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