Campaign Trail

Back on the stump

• Matthew Price
• 16 Oct 08, 10:21 PM GMT

Has John McCain finally found his feet after several days in which he appeared to lose his focus and his direction?

In a rally in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, he sounded his surest yet.

Of the handful of rallies that I have seen, this was the best.

Lashing out at Barack Obama over what he regards as the crucial issue of at the moment, namely: Joe the plumber.

This was a plumber who met Barack Obama on the campaign trail last Sunday.

Senator Obama said he believes in using taxes as a way of redistributing wealth.

Mr McCain was at his most lively saying he did not believe that America and Americans should have to redistribute wealth.

He believes the best way forward for America is to create more wealth.

It was John McCain fighting with politics rather than with negativity,something his campaign has been accused of in recent weeks.

Yes, those personal attacks continue in advertisements that run on television and radio stations, but on the campaign trail, on the stump, on stage in front of his supporters John McCain really seems to find his voice when he is fighting Obama on his policies.

Joe the plumber may have come too late for John McCain.

Perhaps his greatest adversary now is time, but - as he keeps reminding people - there are still 19 days left in this campaign.

And he and many of his supporters that I have spoken to believe that they can turn this around.

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What McCain fans thought of his debate performance

• Matthew Price
• 16 Oct 08, 05:35 PM GMT

John McCain is due to arrive at his latest rally in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, shortly.

I had a quick chat with people in the audience. As you'd expect at a McCain rally they all think he did the better job in last night's debate, but it was interesting that one woman I spoke to said she could not bear to watch the debate because she feared that McCain would not do as good a job as he should. Pretty telling.

There are people - Republicans and McCain supporters - who are worried he has not been getting his message across.

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McCain's negativity

• Matthew Price
• 16 Oct 08, 04:11 AM GMT

EXTON, PENNSYLVANIA: So Joe made an appearance - several in fact. Does he make a difference, do you think? I noticed no-one picked up on him in the comments after yesterday's blog. Is tax important as an issue this election?

As for who won, the answer here in Pennsylvania is clear. The Phillies.

No, I'm not being trivial or flippant. John McCain wants to win Pennsylvania, and therefore needs his message to get across to people here.

But not as many as he would have liked were watching this debate, as so many in this state were watching a crucial baseball game.

Before the debate, we circled a few bars that had shown the first debates. The screens were focused on the game instead.

At one bar, a table of sensible middle-aged voters told me the game was the only thing they'd watch this evening. "Anyway, I've seen enough debates, I've made up my mind," one man said.

We spoke about negativity, and John McCain getting personal about Barack Obama recently.

"I've voted Republican. I supported John McCain in 2000 against Bush," one said. "I've always supported McCain. But when his campaign went negative, it's not him. I won't be voting for him."

Others felt the campaign had been taken over by the Republican party and they didn't like that, for them it tainted their opinion of "McCain-the-maverick".

One added: "He needs to talk about specifics."

Well he did tonight, but he also had his moments of negativity. When, though, he spoke about his experience, his desire to rein in government spending, his belief in cutting taxes, that will have gone down well with many voters.

I still feel though that, while he clearly had his best performance of all the debates, he doesn't lay out a coherent argument often enough. He seems to get halfway through a great point, countering Obama, and then gets sidelined.

Another interesting factor I came across today while asking Republicans what they wanted from this debate, and what they want from Mr McCain: some don't seem to want Sarah Palin.

The (Republican) women I spoke to - many, not all - say they probably will vote for McCain, but they are worried about Mrs Palin's lack of experience. Interestingly some also said they are intrigued by Mr Obama.

That made me wonder if the difference between the two candidates' chances is perhaps at the moment summed up like this.

Obama's natural supporters are actually energized and excited by him.

McCain's natural supporters see their candidate as simply solid.

But many of those who by party affiliation would consider themselves naturally in the McCain camp, find themselves surprisingly intrigued by Obama, and some are flirting with the idea of voting for him.

Tonight, the question is whether McCain did enough to change their minds.

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