Elisabeth Bumiller describes how Senator John McCain does not want a strong presence by President Bush in the article “McCain Facing Delicate Choice: A Role for Bush.” The article discusses when to use President Bush to the greatest effect and how the President will affect the opinions of voters that McCain is appealing to.
Senator McCain wants to be able to campaign with little help from the President. He faces the difficult task using the President to appeal to conservatives while not alienating the independents and moderates. He does not want the President’s currently low approval rating to hurt his relatively high approval rating. Instead of a constant presence at McCain’s side Bush will be fund raising, mainly at dinners, bringing money into the Republican Party. The President’s endorsement, support and lack of it in the past have helped or hurt Presidential candidates. When Al Gore ran for President many Democrats wanted Gore to use more of President Clinton’s support. The Democrats want to promote the use image of Bush against McCain by making it make it appear that Bush is actually running for another term by using McCain as a puppet.
The use of the President to appeal to the people is a delicate situation. The overuse of a President with low approval ratings would hurt a candidate's campaign. President Bush is not popular with many people because they do not agree with his opinions and actions in Iraq, a slowing economy, immigration, social security, health care, global warming etc. Even though he may not be responsible for several issues people like to pin the bad times on the President. However, McCain can still use President Bush to his advantage to help bolster his conservative credentials and gain money for his party.
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