Politics and Culture

McCain's remarks at the Pettus Bridge will begin what he calls the "It's Time for Action Tour," spotlighting "forgotten Americans," who include steelworkers in Youngstown, Ohio, the rural poor in the Appalachia region of Kentucky, and Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans.

"We will travel to areas of this country that in many ways have been forgotten and left behind," McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt said.

This is McCain running Bush's "compassionate conservatism" campaign. Like Democrats need to do something to prove that they're tough and like "bitter" Americans, Republicans need to show that they "care." It probably polls well and I'm sure that McCain does, in fact, care about those people, but McCain needs to be careful not to muddle his overall message.

How? I, for one, would love it if the federal government "forgot" about me as long as I didn't have to pay them for making my decisions. Are we independent Americans who want to keep our own money and improve our own communities, or are we people who can't do anything without somebody in Washington "remembering" us?

McCain is at risk for squishing any advantage he has in the mortgage "crisis." If the situation stabilizes by itself, as seems likely, Obama and Clinton will look like economic Chicken Littles and McCain as one cool Rooster. Instead, McCain felt that he had to "do something" and released a mixture of diet and regular coke (We'll help, but not too much.). Does anybody buy 80 calorie Cokes? We'll see.

**update**

McCain didn't go promising handouts. Yay! It was remembering in a good way- heroes and positive actions:

That evening, millions of Americans watched in stunned silence as ABC News broadcast the clash of might against right. They watched brave John Lewis fall. They watched the marchers – peaceful, purposeful, loving, kneeling in humble resistance – scattered and overrun by the troopers, who struck them with clubs and whips, chased them as they fled, trampled them beneath their horses’ hooves. They watched old men and women fall. They saw dignified people claiming only their constitutional rights; affirming the promise of the Declaration of Independence without anger, malice or the least threat of violence, whipped and clubbed for their patriotism. They watched, and were ashamed of their country. And they knew that the people who had tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge weren’t a mob; they weren’t a threat; they weren’t revolutionaries. They were people who believed in America; in the promise of America. And they believed in a better America. They were patriots; the best kind of patriots...

...I want to discuss with them how they are working hard to make a better future for their communities and their country. I am going to listen to and learn from them about what government is doing to help their efforts and what it does to hinder them. I’m not going to tell anybody about how government can make their choices for them, but how we can help grow our economy so that people have better choices to make for themselves. I’m going to share some of my ideas for making our schools better, and how to help all parts of America have access to the astonishing improvements in education made possible by the information revolution, and the economic opportunities they bring. I’m going to talk about the great potential of America’s community colleges to help people learn new skills that will help them find secure jobs in the global economy. I want them to know, that as we begin to address the security and environmental threats caused by our dependence on foreign oil, I’m dedicated to making sure our efforts to start a green technology revolution – which could be as transformative as the information revolution -- produces prosperity throughout this country.