McCain Back from the Brink

After being virtually written off by mainstream media pundits, Senator John McCain surprised many in our nation with an assured performance in the latest televised debate aired nationally last week. The 'studio audience' was almost unanimous and unstinting in their praise for the former Vietnam POW's gritty and measured answers which reportedly reinvigorated his campaign.

The mainstream media view of McCain's 'demise' was not one shared by eardleyfactor analysts. Our previous commentary had still placed McCain as a front runner, therefore his performance and re-rating came as no surprise to us.

If there was a surprise it was the somewhat lack-lustre responses of R. Giuliani. We are not writing Rudi off, far from it, but the focus on his tenure as New York Mayor appeared to irk some viewers who appeared to have wished he had covered the wider canvas. Eardleyfactor is confident he will not be hurt by his references to his taming of the 'Big Apple'. On the contrary, as the campaign leaps into its stride Rudi will be seen to benefit even more from the New York experience.

Although 'events' are yet to be fully played out, Eardleyfactor sees no other serious contenders for the Republican Nomination other than Giuliani and McCain.

An interesting intervention came from no less a person than Senator Huckerbee who praised McCain's sacrifice to the nation (reference to his imprisonment in Vietnam!) as being something which only true patriots could understand. As a Clergyman, Huckerbee associated McCain's Vietnam captivity as tantamount to a Christian sacrifice for the Nation. This was no casual throwaway line by Huckerbee. It was well prepared and carried a powerful positive message for the McCain camp. We encourage our readers to follow this sub-text extremely carefully. This story has 'legs' and will run and run.
In the field of English Literature, we would say that McCain is being prepared to represent a 'Christ Figure' i.e. someone with radical views who shows the path to salvation through sacrifice.

On the Democratic benches, Senator Clinton continues to stride out day after day displaying faultless performances. Husband Bill is doing his bit and he gave a strong supportive interview with Larry King last week. At this point we see no serious challenge to her candidacy.

The great unknown lies in events. The probability of '9/11 Mark Two' must remain high indeed. Our assessment of how the Democrats would respond to another heinous act of terrorism is somewhat unclear. Our current analysis is that Senator Clinton would not sit well in the chair of a 'War President' and that the McCain-Giuliani axis would prevail.
The timing of such an event is therefore absolutely critical. Would al-Quaida benefit more from a 'weak' President Clinton who may well strike a deal and abandon the field to Islam, or, would the nation rally behind the traditional religious beliefs and values which many believe made this country great?

All these imponderables guarantee that the next 14 months will constitute an experience history will judge to be anything but dull. Eardleyfactor will follow events carefully and our unique analysis of the twin areas of commerce and politics will continue to point the way forward both for our Nation and the World.

Robert Jack Eardley, M.D.                                                              Robert Francis Eardley, Cert. Ed., B.A.
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