Opinion: McCain’s woes worsen

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In a story that appeared in print exactly a week ago, The Times’ Michael Finnegan wrote that Republican presidential contender John McCain ‘faces a distressing question that few would have posed just months ago: Will he even be able to stay in the race?’

Since then, a veritable avalanche of bad news has blasted the McCain camp. And the question of his political viability looms ever larger.

One particular stat surfaced Friday that seemed to say it all: Ron Paul, theidiosyncratic GOP candidate who calls for dismantling huge hunks of the federal government and ending America’s leadership role in international affairs, had more cash-on-hand as of June 30 than McCain ($2.4 million for the House member from Texas, compared to $2 million for the senator from Arizona).

Those figures captured a great deal of attention, but other numbers also spotlight McCain’s struggle. Politico.com reported that his staff in New Hampshire --- the state he took by storm en route to a crushing primary win over George W. Bush in 2000 --- has been cut to nine from 15. A similar slashing of McCain’s team in Iowa was detailed by the Des Moines Register.

John Judis of the New Republic weighed in with an overview, opining that McCain’s decline ‘reflects a flawed campaign strategy.’ The senator’s path to his party’s nomination, Judis writes, ‘relied on re-running the 2000 campaign, but with one important difference: McCain would play himself and Bush.’ Just one problem --- he’s failing in both parts.

It’s gotten to the point where an Associated Press story filed this week posited that McCain’s best hope of reviving his fortunes may lie in reliving his past; namely, his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

It’s an interesting proposition ... and one we’d be surprised to see play out.

Unquestionably, the tribulations visited upon McCain during his capitivity in Vietnam make him unique among White House contenders --- or anyone who’s ever served in the office. He was starved. He was frequently beaten. He endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement.

As the AP story notes, McCain is not averse to referencing his experiences. But it’s not a staple of his political pitch, as was illustrated during a mid-May debate among the GOP presidential candidates. The topic had turned to what interrogation measures should be allowed in seeking information to thwart a terrorist attack and there was a clear divide in opinion, with McCain taking the most cautious stance. Obviously, it was a subject he knew well. Still, he made only the briefest mention that he had been a victim of torture, passing on providing any specifics about the intensity and length of the suffering inflicted upon him.

It seems like a stretch that McCain, regardless of the dire political situation he confronts, would now seek to get audiences to feel his pain. And it’s even more of a stretch to suppose that such a tactic would reverse his slide.

By the way, the story on Ron Paul budgeting his campaign more carefully than McCain was broken by ABC News as a tease for his appearance Sunday morning on ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos.’ Also on the show: free-wheeling Mike Gravel, who revels in his role as the bomb-thrower in the Democratic presidential race.

Now that’s a lineup designed with entertainment in mind.

-- Don Frederick