The Occasional Observer

A follow up on today's earlier posts. Caught this quote from an article in the NY Slimes:

So here’s a puzzle. If Rudolph W. Giuliani is leading the Republican field in the national polls, and Mitt Romney is leading the field in the early states, why is John McCain running closer to Hillary Clinton than the rest of the pack?

What accounts for this? What advantages does Mr. McCain bring against Mrs. Clinton that he doesn’t bring in match-ups against his rivals?

We turned to Mark McKinnon, a top strategist for Mr. McCain, for the campaign’s view.
He said that part of the answer was Mr. McCain’s appeal to independents and conservative Democrats...

As for why Mr. McCain does less well against his fellow Republicans, Mr. Ayres said: “He has taken some positions on campaign finance reform and illegal immigration that many Republicans find discomforting.”

At the same time, he said, “Republicans like to talk a lot about how they want a candidate who governs by principle rather than polls, and John McCain is the poster boy for governing by principle rather than polls, specifically on Iraq and illegal immigration.”