WASHINGTON, DC: In the wake of Elizabeth Dole’s withdrawal from the race for the 2000 GOP presidential nomination, remaining candidates Sen. John McCain and Steve Forbes are tweaking their PR efforts in an effort to be heard above the din.
WASHINGTON, DC: In the wake of Elizabeth Dole’s withdrawal from the
race for the 2000 GOP presidential nomination, remaining candidates Sen.
John McCain and Steve Forbes are tweaking their PR efforts in an effort
to be heard above the din.
A recent Reuters poll showed McCain with the support of 21% of
self-described GOP primary voters in New Hampshire, compared to
frontrunner George W. Bush’s 40% and Forbes’ 12%. The poll marked
somewhat of a victory for McCain, given that his support did not even
register in the double-digits in an April survey.
Democratic consultant Martin Hamburger of Laguens Hamburger Stone
believes McCain’s advocacy of campaign finance reform has given him a
’unique selling proposition.’ His candidacy also received a big boost in
New York from an endorsement by Staten Island borough president Guy
Molinari. Molinari, a strong supporter of George Bush in 1988, had been
thought to be an ardent G.W. Bush backer.
Forbes, on the other hand, has just delivered his ’New Economy Plan,’
which details proposed Social Security, budget and tax reforms. It is
expected that he will soon start to make aggressive comparisons with
Bush in his campaign public relations and advertising.
Significantly, the Reuters poll revealed that a majority of New
Hampshire Republicans believe they don’t have enough knowledge about
Bush to nominate him. This has led some Washington insiders to speculate
whether Dole might have been more competitive with better PR
planning.
Democratic consultant Joe Trippi of Trippi, McMahon & Squier suggested
that McCain has demonstrated better traction than Dole due to his
outsider message. McCain’s surge, he said, ’has more to do with his
coming in as an outsider - a message that Dole could not deliver very
credibly.’
