Panel: McCain must be candidate of change to beat Obama

ST. PAUL — To win in November, Sen. John McCain must make an election against Barack Obama about changing Washington, according to a panel of political strategists and journalists sponsored by The Hill.

In a year in which Americans are troubled by a sour economy and poll numbers show Congress’s approval ratings are at a historic low, it won’t be enough for McCain to run on his war-hero record, several panelists said.

{mosads}“I think with the help of his running mate, John McCain can run against Washington,” said John Feehery, a former spokesman for ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) who is now a GOP strategist.

Feehery, also a regular contributor to The Hill’s Pundits Blog, noted that Obama has become “almost a symbol” of the need for change in Washington, and said McCain will have to latch on to the same message. He suggested McCain could do so given his reputation as a voice of reform, adding that his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), could help him.

“I agree with John,” said Karen Hanretty, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “The conversation can’t be about McCain the war hero.”

Hanretty and Feehery were joined on the panel by Hill reporter Sam Youngman and columnist A.B. Stoddard. The panel was also sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Hanretty praised Palin, whom McCain picked as his running mate last week, as a positive for the GOP candidate.

“Sarah Palin has been — warts and all — John McCain’s greatest strength,” Hanretty said.

She said Palin will be able to give a real-world view to issues that will be a strength for a McCain ticket.

Feehery said he did not think the contest would turn on experience, because of the country’s anti-Washington mood. In such a climate, the experience of a candidate can be a handicap, he suggested.

“I think McCain is better off going after him on the issues — that he’ll raise your taxes,” said Feehery. “People want change. I think McCain has got to be seen not as a candidate of the status quo.”

The two campaigns and their supporters have traded barbs about experience ever since Palin was added to the ticket, and before she joined the race McCain repeatedly attacked Obama, who has served four years in the Senate, as too inexperienced to be president.

Hanretty noted that Obama let himself be pulled into a debate over experience this week, when he argued that his experience running his campaign was superior to Palin’s administrative experience as Alaska’s governor. She said it would be dangerous for Obama to continue to get pulled into such a fight.

Feehery also said he believed Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) was a good vice presidential pick for Obama who will pull in blue-collar, Irish-Catholic voters, but added his greatest weakness in an election about change was his 36 years in the Senate.