John McCain presidential campaign, 2000

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John McCain
2000 Republican candidate for
President of the United States

Last office United States Senator from Arizona 1987–present
The life of John McCain
v • d • e

Early life and military career
House and Senate career, 1982–2000
2000 presidential campaign
Senate career, 2001–present
2008 presidential campaign
Cultural and political image
Political positions

John McCain, the United States Senator from Arizona, launched his first candidacy for the presidency of the United States in the 2000 presidential election. As a candidate for the Republican nomination, he was defeated by George W. Bush after closely contested battles in several early primary states.

Contents

[edit] Leading up to the announcement

McCain was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination beginning in 1997, but he took few steps to pursue it, instead concentrating on his 1998 senate re-election.[1] McCain later wrote that he had a "vague aspiration" of running for president for a long time.[2] He would also be candid about his motivation: "I didn't decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to become president. I was sixty-two years old when I made the decision, and I thought it was my one shot at the prize."[2]

Potential weaknesses of a McCain candidacy included his senatorial accomplishments skewing towards the maverick side rather than those that would appeal to the party core; a lack of funds and of fund-raising prowess; and an unpredictability of personality and temperament.[1] Potential assets included a lot of favorable treatment in the political media, and well as being featured on A&E's Biography series, and support from veterans.[1]

[edit] Announcements and Kosovo

McCain had initially planned on announcing his candidacy and beginning active campaigning on April 6, 1999.[3] There was to be a four-day roadshow, whose first day would symbolically begin at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, then see early primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina, before concluding in home Phoenix, Arizona[3] with a big audience, marching bands, and thousands of balloons.[4]

However, the Kosovo War intervened. On March 24, the NATO bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began. McCain had voted the day before in favor of approval for the Clinton administration's action, saying "Atrocities are the signature of the Serbian Army. They've been carrying out atrocities since 1992. We must not permit the genocide that Milosevic has in mind for Kosovo to continue. We are at a critical hour."[5] He was critical of past inaction by the Clinton administration in the matter,[5] and within days was urging that the use of ground troops not be ruled out.[6] McCain become a very frequent guest on television talk shows discussing the conflict, and his "We are in it, now we must win it" stance drew much attention.[7][6] On March 31, three American soldiers were captured by Yugoslavia;[8] the next day, McCain canceled his planned roadshow, stating "this is not an appropriate time to launch a political campaign."[9][6] He received media praise for his action and continued to be a highly visible spokesman for strong action regarding Kosovo;[6] CNN pundit Mark Shields said that, "In thirty-five years in Washington, I have never seen a debate dominated by an individual in the minority party as I've seen this one dominated by John McCain."[6]

On April 13, McCain simply issued a statement without fanfare that he would be a candidate:[10] "While now is not the time for the celebratory tour I had planned, I am a candidate for president and I will formally kick off my campaign at a more appropriate time."[10] McCain and his wife Cindy would make some campaign-related appearances over the spring and summer.[11]

McCain's co-authored, best-selling[12] family memoir, Faith of My Fathers, published in August 1999, helped promote the new start of his campaign.[13] The book garnered largely positive reviews,[14] and McCain went on a 15-city book tour during September.[14]

McCain finally formally announced his candidacy on September 27, 1999 before a thousand people in Greeley Park in Nashua, New Hampshire,[7][15] saying "It is because I owe America more than she has ever owed me that I am a candidate for president to the United States."[7] He further said he was staging "a fight to take our government back from the power brokers and special interests and return it to the people and the noble cause of freedom it was created to serve."[13] As originally planned, he began his announcement day with a visit to the Naval Academy.[7]

[edit] Campaign staff and policy team

Rick Davis was the campaign manager for the McCain effort, while Mike Murphy was the overall strategist and John Weaver the chief political adviser.[16] Greg Stevens was the media adviser and Mark Salter was the chief speechwriter (and credited co-author of McCain's books).[16] Howard Opinsky was the campaign's press officer.[16] Craig Turk was the general counsel.[17]

After a while, a rivalry formed between Davis, at campaign headquarters, and Weaver and Murphy, who traveled on the campaign bus.[17] Davis wanted a larger role in campaign strategy, and eventually differences between the two factions escalated to attacks made via the press.[17]

[edit] Campaign developments 1999

There was a crowded field of Republican candidates, but the big leader in terms of establishment party support and fundraising was Texas Governor and presidential son George W. Bush.[18][19][20] Indeed, by the time of McCain's formal announcement, top-echelon Republican contenders such as Lamar Alexander, John Kasich, and Dan Quayle were already withdrawing from the race due to Bush's strength.[18] As McCain would later write, "No one thought I had much of a chance, including me."[21] Only four of McCain's fellow senators endorsed his candidacy.[22]

The day after McCain announced, Bush made a show of visiting Phoenix and displaying that he, not McCain, had the endorsement of Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull and several other prominent local political figures.[13] Hull would continue to attack McCain during the campaign, and was featured in high-profile Arizona Republic and New York Times stories about McCain's reputation for having a bad temper,[13][23] with the latter featuring on-the-record criticism from Governor of Michigan John Engler.[23] By early November, stories about McCain's temper problem were frequent enough that Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wrote a survey article about them.[24] Some of McCain's opponents, including those in or close to the Senate Republican leadership, intimated that McCain's temper was a sign of mental instability.[25] Attributions of McCain's supposed instability to his POW days caused Admiral James Stockdale, a fellow former POW and 1992 vice-presidential candidate for Ross Perot, to write an op-ed piece for The New York Times, "John McCain in the Crucible".[26] In it, Stockdale said that the reverse was true: that the experience of resisting during the POW experience made former POWs more emotionally stable in later life, not less.[27] In early December, McCain released some 1,500 pages of his medical and psychiatric records,[28] which showed several psychiatric evaluations over a number of years following his POW release that indicated no signs of lingering mental or emotional difficulty from that period.[29][30]

Bush avoided most of the scheduled Republican Party debates during 1999,[31] including one held on November 21 at Arizona State University in McCain's home state.[31] There McCain debated second-tier candidates Alan Keyes, Orrin Hatch, and Steve Forbes instead.[31] Bush finally did participate in the December 6 debate from the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, by which time McCain was so busy campaigning in New Hampshire that he had to join via a video linkup.[32] There McCain's signature push for campaign finance reform led to one of the few lively exchanges in an otherwise placid event.[32]

Following political consultant Mike Murphy's advice,[33] McCain decided to skip the initial event of the nomination season, the Iowa caucus, where his long opposition to ethanol subsidies would be unpopular[22] and his late start and lack of base party support would hurt him in the grassroots organizing necessary for success in the state.[34] (He had earlier skipped the August 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, labeling it a sham.[11]) McCain focused on introducing his biographical story, especially his Vietnam and POW experiences; a videocassette telling the story was sent to some 50,000 voters in the first two primary states, as well as to military veterans in other states.[35]

[edit] Caucuses and primaries 2000

[edit] New Hampshire

By skipping Iowa, McCain was able to focus instead on the New Hampshire primary, where his message held appeal to independents and where Bush's father had never been very popular.[33] At first, McCain attracted small crowds and little media attention.[22] But by November 1999, McCain had become competitive, measuring evenly with Bush in polls.[36] Bush said he realized McCain was a strong candidate there: "If I had to guess why Senator McCain is doing well, it's people respect him and so do I. He's a good man."[36]

McCain traveled on a campaign bus called the Straight Talk Express, whose name capitalized on his reputation as a political maverick who would speak his mind. In visits to towns he gave a ten-minute talk focused on campaign reform issues, then announced he would stay until he answered every question that everyone had. He pledged that "I will never tell you a lie."[22] He conducted 114 of these town hall meetings,[37] speaking in every town in New Hampshire in an example of "retail politics" that overcame Bush's familiar name. His growing number of supporters became known as "McCainiacs".[38]

McCain was famously accessible to the press, using free media to compensate for his lack of funds.[13] As one reporter later recounted, "McCain talked all day long with reporters on his Straight Talk Express bus; he talked so much that sometimes he said things that he shouldn't have, and that's why the media loved him."[39]

McCain and Bush argued over their proposals for tax cuts; McCain criticized Bush's plan as too large and too beneficial to the wealthy.[40] McCain preferred a smaller cut that would allocate more of the surplus towards the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.[40] McCain pushed his signature issue of campaign finance reform, and was the only candidate to talk much about foreign policy and defense issues.[22]

On February 1, 2000, McCain won the primary with 49 percent of the vote to Bush's 30 percent, and suddenly was the celebrity of the hour.[22] Other Republican candidates had dropped out or failed to gain traction, and McCain became Bush's only serious opponent. Analysts predicted that a McCain victory in the crucial South Carolina primary might give his insurgency campaign unstoppable momentum;[41][42][43] a degree of fear and panic crept into not only the Bush campaign[13] but also the Republican establishment and movement conservatism.[42][43]

[edit] South Carolina

The battle between Bush and McCain for South Carolina has entered American political lore as one of the nastiest, dirtiest, and most brutal ever.[13][44][45] On the one hand, Bush switched his label for himself from "compassionate conservative" to "reformer with results",[46] as part of trying to co-opt McCain's popular message of reform.[13][46] On the other hand, a variety of business and interest groups that McCain had challenged in the past now pounded him with negative ads.[13]

The day that a new poll showed McCain five points ahead in the state,[47] Bush allied himself on stage with a marginal and controversial veterans activist named J. Thomas Burch, who accused McCain of having "abandoned the veterans" on POW/MIA and Agent Orange issues: "He came home from Vietnam and forgot us."[13][47] Incensed,[47] McCain ran ads accusing Bush of lying and comparing the governor to Bill Clinton,[13] which Bush complained was "about as low a blow as you can give in a Republican primary."[13] An unidentified party began a semi-underground smear campaign against McCain, delivered by push polls, faxes, e-mails, flyers, and the like, claiming most famously that he had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned daughter Bridget was adopted from Bangladesh; this misrepresentation was thought to be an especially effective slur in a Deep South state where race was still central[45]), but also that his wife Cindy was a drug addict, that he was a homosexual, and that he was a "Manchurian Candidate" traitor or mentally unstable from his North Vietnam POW days.[13][44] The Bush campaign strongly denied any involvement with these attacks;[44] Bush said he would fire anyone who ran defamatory push polls.[48]

Bush mobilized the state's evangelical voters,[13] and leading conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh entered the fray supporting Bush and going on at length about how McCain was a favorite of liberal Democrats.[49] Polls swung in Bush's favor; by not accepting federal matching funds for his campaign, Bush was not limited in how much money he could spend on advertisements, while McCain was near his limit.[49] With three days to go, McCain shut down his negative ads against Bush and tried to stress a positive image.[49] But McCain's stressing of campaign finance reform, and how Bush's proposed tax cuts would benefit the wealthy, did not appeal to core Republicans in the state.[22]

McCain lost South Carolina on February 19, with 42 percent of the vote against Bush's 53 percent,[50] allowing Bush to regain the momentum.[50]

[edit] On to Super Tuesday

McCain's campaign never completely recovered from his defeat in South Carolina.[13] He did rebound partially by winning in Arizona and Michigan on February 22,[51] mocking Governor Hull's opposition in the former.[13] In Michigan, which he won 50 percent to 43 percent in an upset,[22] he captured many Democratic and independent votes,[51] who combined made up over half of the primary electorate.[22]

However, he made serious mistakes that negated any momentum he may have regained with the Michigan victory. Still reeling from his South Carolina experience, he made a February 28 speech in Virginia Beach that criticized Christian leaders, including Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, as divisive;[44] McCain declared, "... we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders."[52] He also made an off-the-cuff, unserious remark on the Straight Talk Express than referred to Robertson and Falwell as "forces of evil", that came across as angry hostility to many Christian conservatives.[22] McCain lost the Virginia primary on February 29, as well as one in Washington.[53]

McCain had stated in mid-February that "I hate the gooks", in reference to his captors during the Vietnam War.[54] This use gained some media attention in California, which had a large Asian American population.[54] After criticism from some in that community, McCain vowed to no longer use the term, saying, "I will continue to condemn those who unfairly mistreated us. But out of respect to a great number of people for whom I hold in very high regard, I will no longer use the term that has caused such discomfort."[55] Reaction among Vietnamese Americans to McCain's use of this term was mostly supportive,[56][57][58] and exit polls in the primary in California showed that they strongly supported him.[59] This was not the first or the last example of controversial remarks by McCain.

A week later on March 7, 2000, he lost nine of the thirteen primaries on Super Tuesday to Bush, including large states such as California, New York, Ohio, and Georgia; McCain's wins were confined to the New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.[60] His overall loss on that day has been attributed to his going "off message", ineffectively accusing Bush of being anti-Catholic due to having visited Bob Jones University[61] and getting into a verbal battle with leaders of the Religious Right.[62] Throughout the campaign, McCain had achieved parity with Bush among self-identified Republicans only in the northeastern states; in most of the rest of the country, Bush ran way well ahead of McCain among Republicans, enough to overcome McCain's strength among independents and Democrats.[22]

With little hope of catching Bush's delegate lead after Super Tuesday, McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000.[63]

[edit] General election

Following the end of his campaign, McCain returned to the Senate to continue his push for campaign finance reform.[64], with the question of whether he would endorse Bush uncertain.[64]

The events of South Carolina stayed with McCain. In an interview during this time, McCain would say of the rumor spreaders, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those,"[65] and in another interview he called the rumor spreaders "the ugly underside of politics."[66] McCain regretted some aspects of his own campaign there as well, in particular changing his stance on flying the Confederate flag at the state capitol from a "very offensive" "symbol of racism and slavery" to "a symbol of heritage";[13][44] he would later write, "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles."[44] According to one report, the South Carolina experience overall left McCain in a "very dark place."[44]

McCain finally did announce he would campaign for Bush, in a joint appearance with him on May 9, but did not use the actual word "endorse" until reporters pressed him to do so.[67][22] The New York Times wrote that "there was a tight, grudging quality to the event," and that McCain had been "looking a bit like a teenager forced to attend a classical music concert."[68] McCain also made it clear that he was not interested in a vice-presidential nomination.[22]

When the 2000 Republican National Convention began in Philadelphia at the end of July, McCain took his Straight Talk Express to meet with his delegates and supporters before formally releasing them to Bush. There were tears from McCain, his wife Cindy, and some of the campaign staff and delegates.[69] Many of McCain's supporters were vocally unhappy with his words of support for Bush, and the Times wrote that, "Politics as usual with its compromises, cruelties and emotional costs — caught up with Senator John McCain this weekend."[69] McCain made a point of having Cindy McCain head the Arizona delegation at the convention, not his antagonist Governor Hull.[22] On August 1, the second night of the convention, McCain delivered a speech in praise of Bush, in particular trying to solidify Bush's national security and foreign policy credentials.[70] In it, McCain connected his family to Bush's, making reference to former President George H. W. Bush's combat service as a naval aviator in the Pacific Theater of World War II under Admiral John S. McCain, Sr., McCain's grandfather.[13] He said directly of the nominee, "I support him. I am grateful to him. And I am proud of him."[13] The Almanac of American Politics called it "a moving, elegiac speech that ended as if in a minor key."[22]

McCain's plans to campaign for Bush in fall 2000 were delayed later in August by a recurrence of melanoma.[13] This Stage IIa instance on his temple required extensive surgery that removed the lesion, surrounding lymph nodes, and part of the parotid gland.[71] The final pathology tests showed that the melanoma had not spread, and his prognosis was good, but McCain was left with cosmetic aftereffects including a puffy cheek and a scar down his neck.[71]

McCain did join Bush for a few days of appearances in late October,[72] emphasizing, in the wake of the October 12 USS Cole bombing, his belief that Bush was a better choice than Democratic Party nominee Al Gore to deal with international security threats.[13] McCain also campaigned for about forty Republican House of Representatives candidates, and was credited by National Republican Congressional Committee chair Tom Davis with keeping the House in Republican hands.[73] McCain would state that he voted for Bush on November 7 (although years later several witnesses would relate that McCain and his wife Cindy had both said at a dinner party that they had not).[74] When the November presidential election continued on in indecision during the Florida election dispute, McCain generally quiet in an atmosphere of extreme partisanship,[75] though he did appear on CBS' Face the Nation to say, "I think the nation is growing a little weary of this. We're not in a constitutional crisis, but the American people are growing weary, and whoever wins is having a rapidly diminishing mandate, to say the least."[76] Once Bush was declared the winner and inaugurated in January 2001, McCain's battles with him would resume,[75] with a significant amount of lingering bitterness between the two men and their staffs over what had transpired during the course of 2000.[77]

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] South Carolina investigated and revisited

While South Carolina was known for legendary hard-knuckled political consultant Lee Atwater[45] and rough elections,[44] this had been more: Michael Graham, a native writer, radio host, and political operative, would say "I have worked on hundreds of campaigns in South Carolina, and I've never seen anything as ugly as that campaign."[78] In subsequent years there would be persistent accounts trying to tie the anti-McCain smears to high levels of the Bush campaign: the 2003 book Bush's Brain would use it to build up their "evil genius" depiction of Bush chief strategist Karl Rove,[79] while a 2008 PBS NOW program showed a local political consultant stating that Warren Tompkins, a Lee Atwater protegé and then Bush chief strategist for the state, was responsible.[45][80] In contrast, in 2004 National Review's Byron York would try to debunk many of the South Carolina smear reports as unfounded legend.[81] McCain's campaign manager said in 2004 they never found out where the smear attacks came from,[82] while McCain himself never doubted their existence.[13]

When McCain ran for president again in 2008, South Carolina again proved crucial, in his battle with former Governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and former Senator Fred Thompson. This time, McCain had the support of much of the state Republican establishment,[83] although Rush Limbaugh and other talk radio figures were still lambasting him,[84] and aggressively moved to thwart any smear campaign before it got started.[85] McCain won the primary on January 19, 2008; in his victory remarks to supporters that evening, he said, "It took us awhile, but what's eight years among friends?"[86] The New York Times described McCain's win as "exorcising the ghosts of the attack-filled primary here that derailed his presidential hopes eight years ago."[86]

[edit] Primary campaign results

Total popular votes in Republican 2000 primaries:[87]

Key states:[87]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Timberg, Robert (1999). John McCain: An American Odyssey. Touchstone Books. ISBN 0-684-86794-X.  pp. 192–194.
  2. ^ a b McCain, John; Salter, Mark (2002). Worth the Fighting For. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50542-3.  p. 373.
  3. ^ a b Timberg, An American Odyssey, p. 199.
  4. ^ Alexander, Paul (2002). Man of the People: The Life of John McCain. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-22829-X.  p. 190.
  5. ^ a b Greg McDonald. "Senate OKs use of force in Balkans", Houston Chronicle, 1999-03-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  6. ^ a b c d e Timberg, An American Odyssey, pp. 200–202.
  7. ^ a b c d "McCain formally kicks off campaign", CNN.com, 1999-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. 
  8. ^ "Captured U.S. soldiers face military court in Yugoslavia", CNN, 1999-04-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  9. ^ "Sen. McCain delays announcement for presidency", CNN.com, 1999-04-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  10. ^ a b "McCain says 'I am a candidate'", CNN.com, 1999-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. 
  11. ^ a b Alexander, Man of the People, pp. 192–193.
  12. ^ Faith of My Fathers (1999). Books and Authors. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Dan Nowicki, Bill Muller. "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' runs", The Arizona Republic, 2007-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. 
  14. ^ a b Alexander, Man of the People, pp. 194–195.
  15. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. 197.
  16. ^ a b c Alexander, Man of the People, p. 198.
  17. ^ a b c Jason Zengerle. "Papa John", The New Republic, 2008-04-23. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  18. ^ a b Frank Bruni. "Quayle, Outspent by Bush, Will Quit Race, Aide Says", The New York Times, 2000-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. 
  19. ^ Timberg, An American Odyssey, p. 197.
  20. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. 217.
  21. ^ McCain, Worth the Fighting For, p. 369.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2007). The Almanac of American Politics, 2008, Washington, D.C.: National Journal. ISBN 0-8923-4117-3.  pp. 96–97.
  23. ^ a b Richard L. Berke. "McCain Having to Prove Himself Even in Arizona", The New York Times, 1999-10-25. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. 
  24. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. 203.
  25. ^ Drew, Elizabeth (2002). Citizen McCain. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743230025.  p. 23.
  26. ^ James Stockdale. "John McCain in the Crucible", The New York Times, 1999-11-26. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  27. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. 206.
  28. ^ Lawrence K. Altman. "Release of McCain's Medical Records Provides Unusually Broad Psychological Profile", The New York Times, 1999-12-06. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  29. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. 208.
  30. ^ Nancy Gibbs, John F. Dickerson. "The power and the story", Time, 1999-12-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  31. ^ a b c "GOP presidential hopefuls begin debate in Arizona", CNN.com, 1999-11-21. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  32. ^ a b "Flattery more common than conflict in Arizona debate", CNN.com, 1999-12-06. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  33. ^ a b Alexander, Man of the People, pp. 188–189.
  34. ^ David Yepsen. "McCain formalizes decision to skip Iowa caucuses", Des Moines Register, 1999-11-17. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  35. ^ Parmelee, John (July 2002). "Presidential Primary Videocassettes: How Candidates in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections Framed Their Early Campaigns". Political Communication 19 (3): 317–331. 
  36. ^ a b "Polls: McCain ties Bush in New Hampshire; Bradley gains support in New York, Iowa", CNN.com, 1999-11-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  37. ^ McCain, Worth the Fighting For, p. 371.
  38. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, p. ix.
  39. ^ Harpaz, Beth (2001). The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312302711.  p. 86.
  40. ^ a b "Bush, McCain continue to snipe over tax cuts, but is anybody listening?", CNN.com, 2000-01-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  41. ^ Jeff Greenfield. "Random thoughts of a McCain operative", CNN.com, 2000-02-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  42. ^ a b Jonah Goldberg. "Love Is a Two-Way Street", National Review Online, 2000-02-11. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  43. ^ a b David Corn. "The McCain Insurgency", The Nation, 2000-02-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  44. ^ a b c d e f g h Jennifer Steinhauer. "Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina", The New York Times, 2007-10-19. Retrieved on 2008-01-07. 
  45. ^ a b c d "Dirty Politics 2008", NOW, PBS, 2008-01-04. Retrieved on 2008-01-06. 
  46. ^ a b Alison Mitchell. "Bush and McCain Exchange Sharp Words Over Fund-Raising", The New York Times, 2000-02-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-07. 
  47. ^ a b c Alexander, Man of the People, pp. 250–251.
  48. ^ Mike Ferullo. "'Push polling' takes center stage in Bush-McCain South Carolina fight; Dems campaign in California", CNN, 2000-02-10. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. 
  49. ^ a b c Alison Mitchell. "McCain Catches Mud, Then Parades It", The New York Times, 2000-02-16. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  50. ^ a b Brian Knowlton. "McCain Licks Wounds After South Carolina Rejects His Candidacy", International Herald Tribune, 2000-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  51. ^ a b Ian Christopher McCaleb. "McCain recovers from South Carolina disappointment, wins in Arizona, Michigan", CNN.com, 2000-02-22. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  52. ^ "Excerpt From McCain's Speech on Religious Conservatives", The New York Times, 2000-02-29. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  53. ^ Stuart Rothernberg. "Stuart Rothernberg: Bush Roars Back; McCain's Hopes Dim", CNN.com, 2000-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  54. ^ a b Nevius, CW. "McCain Criticized for Slur: He says he'll keep using term for ex-captors in Vietnam", San Francisco Chronicle, 2000-02-18. Retrieved on 2008-03-30. 
  55. ^ Ma, Jason. "McCain Apologizes for ‘Gook’ Comment", Asian Week, 2000-02-14. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 
  56. ^ Pasco, Jean. "A Hero's Welcome for McCain in Little Saigon; Politics: Some Vietnamese protest senator's slur but most cheer candidate. Ex-POW salutes comrades in arms", Los Angeles Times, 2000-03-02. 
  57. ^ Bunis, Dena. "McCain's visit stirs admiration", The Orange County Register, 2000-03-02. 
  58. ^ Dang, Janet. "Vietnamese American Reaction Divided", Asian Week, 2000-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  59. ^ Vik Jolly. "McCain easy winner among Vietnamese in O.C.", The Orange County Register, March 10, 2000. 
  60. ^ Ian Christopher McCaleb. "Gore, Bush post impressive Super Tuesday victories", CNN.com, 2000-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  61. ^ Freedman, Samuel G.. "Thanks, but no thanks", Politics2000, Salon.com, 2000-03-10. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. 
  62. ^ Robinson, B.A. (2000-03-09). RELIGION AND THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES IN THE YEAR 2000. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
  63. ^ Ian Christopher McCaleb. "Bradley, McCain bow out of party races", CNN.com, 2000-03-09. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  64. ^ a b Alison Mitchell. "McCain Returns to an Uneasy Senate", The New York Times, 2000-03-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  65. ^ Morgan Strong. "Senator John McCain talks about the challenges of fatherhood", Dadmag.com, 2000-06-04. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. 
  66. ^ Alexander, Paul. "The Rolling Stone Interview: John McCain", Rolling Stone, 2001-09-27. Retrieved on 2008-05-19. 
  67. ^ Frank Bruni. "McCain Backs Former Rival, Uniting G.O.P.", The New York Times, 2000-05-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  68. ^ Peter Marks. "A Ringing Endorsement for Bush", The New York Times, 2000-05-14. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  69. ^ a b James Bennet. "Tears, Cheers and Jeers as McCain Delivers His Delegates to Bush", The New York Times, 2000-07-31. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  70. ^ Richard L. Berke. "For Republicans, a Night to Bolster Bush", The New York Times, 2000-08-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  71. ^ a b Lawrence K. Altman. "On the Campaign Trail, Few Mentions of McCain’s Bout With Melanoma", The New York Times, 2008-03-09. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 
  72. ^ Alexander, Man of the People, pp. 329–332.
  73. ^ Drew, Citizen McCain, pp. 4–5.
  74. ^ Elisabeth Bumiller. "McCain’s Vote in 2000 Is Revived in a Ruckus", The New York Times, 2008-05-09. Retrieved on 2008-05-09. 
  75. ^ a b Alexander, Man of the People, p. 332.
  76. ^ Peter Marks. "Talk Turns Murky as Selection of President Lurches Into Uncharted Areas", The New York Times, 2000-11-13. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  77. ^ Drew, Citizen McCain, p. 5.
  78. ^ Dubose, Lou; Jan Reid, Carl M. Cannon (2003). Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph. Public Affairs. ISBN 1586481924.  p. 142.
  79. ^ "Who is Bush's Brain? Karl Rove is, according to a New Book Chronicling the Political Life of the Machiavelli Behind the Throne of King George", Buzzflash.com, 2003-06-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-07. 
  80. ^ Jim Davenport. "S.C. has legacy of dirty tricks", The State, 2008-01-04. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
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v • d • e
John McCain
Political activities
Elections
Life
Books authored
Family
Cindy Hensley McCain (wife) · Carol McCain (first wife) · Meghan McCain (daughter) · John S. McCain, Jr. (father) · Roberta McCain (mother) · Joe McCain (brother) · John S. McCain, Sr. (grandfather)
v • d • e
United States presidential election candidates, 2000
Democratic Party
Straw polls · Primary polls · General polls · Debates · Primaries · Results · Delegates · Convention
Candidates
VP Candidate
Republican Party
Straw polls · Primary polls · General polls · Debates · Primaries · Results · Delegates · Convention
Candidates
VP Candidate
Constitution Party
Convention · Howard Phillips · Herb Titus  · Mathew Zupan
Green Party
Libertarian Party
Convention · Harry Browne · Don Gorman · Jacob Hornberger · Barry Hess · David Hollist
Reform Party
Natural Law Party
Other candidates