John McCain, William Russell & "Conventional Wisdom"

Some of my favorite people online (two mentioned below) are strong supporters of the presidential candidacy of Senator John McCain. Early in the game, I endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President, but I continue to have tremendous admiration for McCain. The following is a message I wrote to Brad Marston, whose Azamatteroffact blog is listed on the right under the logo that says "I Vote the Elephant." The columns below this one mainly deal with Lt. Col. Russell's campaign against John Murtha.

John McCain proves a point that I deeply believe in: that money doesn't mean nearly as much as some "experts" think. Of course, everyone has kept dismissing McCain because he's supposedly "broke," he has continued to move up in the polls. So much for conventional wisdom. As someone who has a long history in practical politics, I deeply believe that if a national candidate has 100 Brad Marstons and Patrick Hynes, he probably has a good chance to win. I'm writing regularly about steps another good candidate, William Russell, who's opposing John Murtha, can win a race that many "experts" think is unwinnable.

A lot of McCain advisers would benefit from reading some of the pieces I've written about Christine Todd Whitman, who almost beat supposedly unbeatable Bill Bradley in 1990. He spent more than 10 times as much money as she did, and he won by a measly 2 points in a "Blue" state. She established the foundation for a great political career at basically the same time as she ended his presidential aspirations.

With the rise of cable and the Internet, the need to spend a gazillion dollars on TV commercials has faded. Again, the "conventional wisdom" is much more conventional than it is wise. It could very well be that the Republican race could come down to a battle between Giuliani and McCain. John McCain proves a point that I deeply believe in: that money doesn't mean nearly as much as some "experts" think. Of course, everyone has kept dismissing McCain because he's supposedly "broke," he has continued to move up in the polls. So much for conventional wisdom. As someone who has a long history in practical politics, I deeply believe that if a national candidate has 100 Brad Marstons and Patrick Hynes, he probably has a good chance to win. I'm writing regularly about steps another good candidate, William Russell, who's opposing John Murtha, can win a race that many "experts" think is unwinnable. I think a lot of McCain advisers would benefit from reading some of the pieces I've written about New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman, who almost beat supposedly unbeatable Bill Bradley in 1990. He spent about 12 times as much money as she did, but he won by a measly 2 points in a "Blue" state. She established the foundation for a great political career at the same time as she ended his presidential aspirations.

With the rise of cable and the Internet, the need to spend a gazillion dollars on TV commercials has faded. Again, the "conventional wisdom" is much more conventional than wise. It could very well be that the Republican race could come down to a battle between Giuliani and McCain. John McCain proves a point that I deeply believe in: that money doesn't mean nearly as much as some "experts" think. Of course, everyone has kept dismissing McCain because he's supposedly "broke,"yet he has continued to move up significantly in the polls. So much for conventional wisdom. I wouldn't be completely surprised if McCain won the nomination.

Stephen R. Maloney