John McCain has rebounded in national polling, now tied with Barack Obama after a week of ads intended to paint Obama as an out-of-touch “celebrity.”
Anticipating the tough fight that was to come, McCain delivered a speech in Prescott in April in which he said he would run a civil campaign that Mo Udall and Barry Goldwater would be proud of. Now, some have pointed to that pledge and said McCain violated his word.
What do you think? Is McCain going negative, or is he just pointing out relevant issues about Obama?
Here’s a look back at the story I wrote about the speech in April:
PRESCOTT – Evoking his memories of Barry Goldwater and Mo Udall, John McCain promised Saturday to conduct a civil presidential campaign, saying rival partisans are not enemies, but compatriots.
McCain’s speech, delivered in front of a giant American flag in this historic Arizona town, served as a conclusion to a weeklong travel blitz stressing the senator’s biography and military roots.
Acknowledging that the electorate is heavily divided and pointing to the “increasing harshness of our debates,” McCain said cooperation is the only way issues can be resolved.
Listing terrorism, Iraq, the economy, the mortgage crisis and reform of entitlement programs as some the country’s top concerns, McCain said argument is healthy.
“It’s more than appropriate, it is necessary that even in this crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight amongst ourselves for the things we believe in. It’s not just our right but our moral and civic obligation,” he said.
The line drew one of the loudest cheers from the audience, since a spectator near the podium was shouting and holding an anti-war sign as McCain spoke.
“Let us argue with each other then – by all means, let us argue – our differences are not petty,” McCain said.
“But let us remember we are not enemies. We are compatriots defending ourselves from a real enemy. We have nothing to fear from each other.”
Standing on the steps of the Yavapai County Courthouse, McCain recalled his relationship with Republican Goldwater and Democrat Udall, two legendary Arizona politicians who both made unsuccessful runs for the White House.
He said their ability to form a friendship with each other despite political differences inspired and shaped his own career. “I intend to wage this campaign and govern this country in a way that they would be proud of me, as I have always been proud of them,” McCain told an early-morning crowd of thousands.
The spot was symbolic. McCain is the successor to Goldwater’s Senate seat, and Goldwater announced all his Senate runs and his 1964 presidential bid on the same steps.
Udall served in the U.S. House for 30 years and ran for president in 1976.
McCain said Udall and Goldwater taught him that “we are Americans first, and partisans second.” And, he said, “I want to be a president that honors their faith in us.”
McCain also touched on his own transformation since being elected to the U.S. House in 1982, when he was a relative stranger to Arizona. Though he has been cast as a moderate politician who works across party lines, he said that early on he developed a reputation as a “confrontational partisan.”
