The 2000 Republican Primary
McCain, Bush, and the Nadir of American Politics
The 2000 Republican Presidential primary was heavily influenced by negative campaigning benefiting George W. Bush. Shaken by the tactics, McCain's campaign faltered.
Leading up to the 2000 primary season, Texas Governor, George W. Bush was considered the favorite among the Republican establishment. Other contenders for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination included Alan Keyes, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, and Senators John McCain and Orrin Hatch. Though Keyes would remain until the end, the race quickly boiled down to Bush and McCain; but in the process, the 2000 Republican primary provided election watchers with what may have been the filthiest campaign ever.
Iowa & New Hampshire Primaries Set the Stage
The Iowa caucuses in January of 2000 provided George W. Bush with an impressive victory with 41% of the vote. Arizona Senator John McCain finished fourth with a mere 5%. However, McCain was not at all surprised by this, having focused his efforts on New Hampshire. During a CNN interview following the Iowa contest, McCain said, “That’s 5% more than I thought I was going to get.”
McCain never expected that his platform of reforming Republican politics would play well in Iowa; however, New Hampshire was another matter. The New Hampshire contest was an open primary, and McCain felt that his campaign would benefit from the state’s large, politically independent voting population. Senator McCain’s gamble paid off.
John McCain won New Hampshire with 49% of the vote. George W. Bush finished second, but was soundly defeated by 19 points. New Hampshire was a huge disappointment for the Bush campaign. For McCain, the victory was a signal to political observers that his campaign was legitimate, and that his calls for party reform were being heeded. Bush went on to win Delaware on February 8, but the next big primary, a “must win” for both McCain and Bush, would be held in South Carolina on February 19, 2000.
South Carolina: McCain under Attack
George W. Bush’s campaign staff was right to be apprehensive about McCain’s victory in New Hampshire. According to the CNN correspondent following John McCain’s campaign, the stronger than expected showing was a boost to his fundraising. In addition, according to CNN’s Jeff Greenfield, “…we win [South Carolina], and the panic starts setting in big-time among all those Republican officeholders who signed on with Bush.”
However, the strategy pursued by the Bush campaign, though its members deny knowledge of executing it, produced one of the ugliest episodes in American politics. Senator McCain’s campaign chief described the underhanded tactics faced in the South Carolina primary, “Anonymous opponents used ‘push polling’ to suggest that McCain’s Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child.” The same inaccurate claim was distributed on fliers, surreptitiously handed out by teenagers who were anonymously paid to do so.
Similar materials were distributed claiming that the Senator’s wife was a drug addict, that the decorated Vietnam veteran was a traitor, that McCain was a homosexual, or that he was mentally unstable. Bush staffers had established plausible deniability for the spurious materials; and, when the McCain camp attempted to fight back with television spots comparing Bush to Bill Clinton, the effort backfired. Frustrated, McCain pulled the commercials and prohibited his staff from further use of negative tactics, but it was too late. Bush won the February 19, 2000, contest by 11 points.
South Carolina Loss: Beginning of the End for McCain in 2000
It was not immediately apparent that the loss was fatal for McCain’s presidential aspirations. He posted victories in Michigan and Arizona before Bush began racking up delegates. Following South Carolina McCain verbally clashed with conservative Christian leaders, a crowd that Bush was willing to pander to, further hindering his efforts. However, most of the damage had already been done on and before February 19. Dan Schnur, a Bush staffer in 2000, put it best when quoted in a 2007 New York Times article, “Once we took that halo off of [McCain], there was no way to get it back.”
Sources:
“Gore and Bush, Victorious in Iowa Caucuses, Prepare for Tough New Hampshire Contests.” CNN.com – Archives. 25 Jan. 2000. 10 Mar. 2008. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/24/iowa.wrap/.
Davis, Richard H. “The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign.” The Boston Globe. 21 Mar. 2004. 9 Mar. 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/.
Greenfield, Jeff. “Jeff Greenfield: Random Thoughts of a McCain Operative.” CNN.com – Archives. 8 Feb. 2000. 10 Mar. 2008. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/02/08/greenfield.column/.
Knowlton, Brian. “McCain Licks Wounds After South Carolina Rejects His Candidacy: Bush Heads to Michigan in Glow of Big Victory.” International Herald Tribune – News. 21 Feb. 2000. 10 Mar. 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/02/21/carolina.2.t_1.php?page=1.
Steinhauer, Jennifer. “Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina.” The New York Times – Politics. 19 Oct. 2007. 10 Mar. 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2.
