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McCain says he's ready to look at running mates

BY TOM BRUNE | tom.brune@newsday.com

April 3, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A month after wrapping up the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain said yesterday he had finally begun a process to pick a running mate - a crucial piece in his emerging national political campaign.

That selection process is just one of many parts he has been putting together, bit by bit, as he pivots from his shoestring comeback primary blitz to a full-blown nationwide race for the presidency.

One month in, the way those pieces are fitting together - the structure, financing and message of his emerging campaign - appears to reflect McCain's personality, with all its strengths and weaknesses.

His strength has been shown in his ability to keep his message heard by the public, if barely above the din of the much-discussed battle between his Democratic rivals, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

His weakness has emerged in reports that he continues to lag far behind the Democrats in raising money, a problem highlighted yesterday by his acknowledgment that he might accept federal campaign funds.

But on his second try for the presidency, McCain once again seems set on doing it his way, even if he breaks from tradition.

"All my life, I've stood a little apart from institutions that I had willingly joined," McCain said on the pavilion atop Navy's football stadium here yesterday. "It just felt natural to me."

That distance is reflected in his message, which differs from Republican orthodoxy on a number of issues and which he dispenses in high-visibility appearances on David Letterman's late-night TV show or with Don Imus on radio.

In the past month, McCain has stressed his national security and foreign policy credentials, but has not succeeded in convincing voters he can handle a rocky economy.

He has traveled to Iraq, delivered a policy speech and now is leading a tour to highlight his biography as the son and grandson of admirals, the roguish but honorable student in high school and Naval Academy, and a Navy flier and Vietnam War POW.

His go-his-own-way approach is also reflected in his emerging campaign structure, which he is borrowing from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, creating 10 regional political directors with autonomy to run things on the ground.

Steve Schmidt, a top McCain aide who once worked for Schwarzenegger, said the idea is to keep the structure flat, to avoid the kind of tiered organization McCain had last year and which ran out of money.

The approach is "unique," but very much in the spirit of McCain's 2000 run for the White House, said Dan Schnur, who teaches campaign strategy at UC Berkeley and was McCain's communications director then.

Some grumbling has been reported about the structure, but a couple of pollsters say it seems to be working: McCain is higher in the polls now than before.

Yet polls are mixed. In matchups, the Gallup Poll found McCain leads Obama 46 percent to 44 percent and Clinton 47 percent to 45 percent nationally.

But Quinnipiac polls in the key states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania released yesterday show McCain trailing Clinton in all three states, and behind Obama in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but ahead in Florida.

A big question for McCain remains his party's right wing, which he has angered by taking contrary positions and by taking them on in 2000. Some evangelical leaders, including the Rev. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, still resist McCain.

But based on his own surveys, GOP pollster Whit Ayres said, "It is still important for him to reach out to some of the conservative leaders and conservative activists. But he already has consolidated the party behind him."

Now, many say, he needs to consolidate GOP donors behind him. So far, according to many reports, he has not. He started off his campaign a month ago in a big hole: He had $8 million in the bank, a fraction of Obama's $39 million and Clinton's $33 million.

He has turned to the Republican National Committee for help, setting up a joint fundraising committee this month. Despite the GOP's prowess at bringing in the big bucks, it's unclear whether it can help him match Obama, who reportedly raised $30 million in March alone.

Now, McCain has turned to selecting a vice president.

"We just started this process of getting together a list of names," McCain told radio host Imus yesterday, telling reporters later they had 20 names.

Recognizing how crucial the choice will be because he is 71, McCain added, "I'd like to get it done as early as possible. I'm aware of enhanced importance of this issue given my age."